diff --git a/src/ReferenceMessageLocalizer.php b/src/ReferenceMessageLocalizer.php
index fd6d9cb6d..aa8550d10 100644
--- a/src/ReferenceMessageLocalizer.php
+++ b/src/ReferenceMessageLocalizer.php
@@ -25,14 +25,13 @@ class ReferenceMessageLocalizer implements MessageLocalizer {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Transliterate numerals, add thousands separators and localize the decimal point.
-	 *
 	 * @param string $number
 	 *
 	 * @return string
 	 */
-	public function formatNum( string $number ) : string {
-		return $this->language->formatNum( $number );
+	public function localizeSeparators( string $number ) : string {
+		// Filter to make sure characters are never removed
+		return strtr( $number, array_filter( $this->language->separatorTransformTable() ?: [] ) );
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/src/ReferencesFormatter.php b/src/ReferencesFormatter.php
index ac5b2e4ca..320b04343 100644
--- a/src/ReferencesFormatter.php
+++ b/src/ReferencesFormatter.php
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ class ReferencesFormatter {
 		int $max
 	) : string {
 		return $this->messageLocalizer->localizeDigits( $base ) .
-			$this->messageLocalizer->formatNum( '.' ) .
+			$this->messageLocalizer->localizeSeparators( '.' ) .
 			$this->messageLocalizer->localizeDigits(
 				str_pad( (string)$offset, strlen( (string)$max ), '0', STR_PAD_LEFT )
 			);
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/unit/FootnoteMarkFormatterTest.php b/tests/phpunit/unit/FootnoteMarkFormatterTest.php
index 96b599fd7..b90b6dfb8 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/unit/FootnoteMarkFormatterTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/unit/FootnoteMarkFormatterTest.php
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class FootnoteMarkFormatterTest extends \MediaWikiUnitTestCase {
 			}
 		);
 		$mockMessageLocalizer = $this->createMock( ReferenceMessageLocalizer::class );
-		$mockMessageLocalizer->method( 'formatNum' )->willReturnArgument( 0 );
+		$mockMessageLocalizer->method( 'localizeSeparators' )->willReturnArgument( 0 );
 		$mockMessageLocalizer->method( 'localizeDigits' )->willReturnArgument( 0 );
 		$mockMessageLocalizer->method( 'msg' )->willReturnCallback(
 			function ( ...$args ) use ( $group, $fooLabels ) {
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/unit/ReferenceMessageLocalizerUnitTest.php b/tests/phpunit/unit/ReferenceMessageLocalizerUnitTest.php
index dbe39e480..559ed3d5f 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/unit/ReferenceMessageLocalizerUnitTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/unit/ReferenceMessageLocalizerUnitTest.php
@@ -11,15 +11,15 @@ use Language;
 class ReferenceMessageLocalizerUnitTest extends \MediaWikiUnitTestCase {
 
 	/**
-	 * @covers ::formatNum
+	 * @covers ::localizeSeparators
 	 * @covers ::__construct
 	 */
-	public function testFormatNum() {
+	public function testLocalizeSeparators() {
 		$mockLanguage = $this->createMock( Language::class );
-		$mockLanguage->method( 'formatNum' )->willReturn( '10,0' );
+		$mockLanguage->method( 'separatorTransformTable' )->willReturn( [ '.' => ',', '0' => '' ] );
 		/** @var Language $mockLanguage */
 		$messageLocalizer = new ReferenceMessageLocalizer( $mockLanguage );
-		$this->assertSame( '10,0', $messageLocalizer->formatNum( '10.0' ) );
+		$this->assertSame( '10,0', $messageLocalizer->localizeSeparators( '10.0' ) );
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/unit/ReferencesFormatterTest.php b/tests/phpunit/unit/ReferencesFormatterTest.php
index a03ca0b7f..9eedb858c 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/unit/ReferencesFormatterTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/unit/ReferencesFormatterTest.php
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ class ReferencesFormatterTest extends \MediaWikiUnitTestCase {
 		);
 
 		$mockMessageLocalizer = $this->createMock( ReferenceMessageLocalizer::class );
-		$mockMessageLocalizer->method( 'formatNum' )->willReturnArgument( 0 );
+		$mockMessageLocalizer->method( 'localizeSeparators' )->willReturnArgument( 0 );
 		$mockMessageLocalizer->method( 'localizeDigits' )->willReturnArgument( 0 );
 		$mockMessageLocalizer->method( 'msg' )->willReturnCallback(
 			function ( ...$args ) {
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@ class ReferencesFormatterTest extends \MediaWikiUnitTestCase {
 		string $expectedLabel, int $base, int $offset, int $max
 	) {
 		$mockMessageLocalizer = $this->createMock( ReferenceMessageLocalizer::class );
-		$mockMessageLocalizer->method( 'formatNum' )->willReturnArgument( 0 );
+		$mockMessageLocalizer->method( 'localizeSeparators' )->willReturnArgument( 0 );
 		$mockMessageLocalizer->method( 'localizeDigits' )->willReturnArgument( 0 );
 
 		/** @var ReferenceMessageLocalizer $mockMessageLocalizer */