diff --git a/includes/ApiQueryReferences.php b/includes/ApiQueryReferences.php
index eefb2ac25..3b4c85d2c 100644
--- a/includes/ApiQueryReferences.php
+++ b/includes/ApiQueryReferences.php
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ class ApiQueryReferences extends ApiQueryBase {
 			} else {
 				$startId = false;
 			}
-			$storedRefs = $this->getStoredReferences( $title );
+			$storedRefs = $this->getStoredReferences( $pageId );
 			$allReferences = [];
 			// some pages may not have references stored
 			if ( $storedRefs !== false ) {
@@ -111,24 +111,24 @@ class ApiQueryReferences extends ApiQueryBase {
 	 * Fetch references stored for the given title in page_props
 	 * For performance, results are cached
 	 *
-	 * @param Title $title
+	 * @param int $pageId
 	 * @return array|false
 	 */
-	private function getStoredReferences( Title $title ) {
+	private function getStoredReferences( $pageId ) {
 		global $wgCiteStoreReferencesData;
 		if ( !$wgCiteStoreReferencesData ) {
 			return false;
 		}
 
 		$cache = MediaWikiServices::getInstance()->getMainWANObjectCache();
-		$key = $cache->makeKey( Cite::EXT_DATA_KEY, $title->getArticleID() );
+		$key = $cache->makeKey( Cite::EXT_DATA_KEY, $pageId );
 		return $cache->getWithSetCallback(
 			$key,
 			self::CACHE_DURATION_ONFETCH,
-			function ( $oldValue, &$ttl, array &$setOpts ) use ( $title ) {
+			function ( $oldValue, &$ttl, array &$setOpts ) use ( $pageId ) {
 				$dbr = wfGetDB( DB_REPLICA );
 				$setOpts += Database::getCacheSetOptions( $dbr );
-				return $this->recursiveFetchRefsFromDB( $title, $dbr );
+				return $this->recursiveFetchRefsFromDB( $pageId, $dbr );
 			},
 			[
 				'checkKeys' => [ $key ],
@@ -142,24 +142,23 @@ class ApiQueryReferences extends ApiQueryBase {
 	 * It attempts the next step when a decoding error occurs.
 	 * Returns json_decoded uncompressed string, with validation of json
 	 *
-	 * @param Title $title
+	 * @param int $pageId
 	 * @param IDatabase $dbr
 	 * @param string $string
 	 * @param int $i
 	 * @return array|false
 	 */
 	private function recursiveFetchRefsFromDB(
-		Title $title,
+		$pageId,
 		IDatabase $dbr,
 		$string = '',
 		$i = 1
 	) {
-		$id = $title->getArticleID();
 		$result = $dbr->selectField(
 			'page_props',
 			'pp_value',
 			[
-				'pp_page' => $id,
+				'pp_page' => $pageId,
 				'pp_propname' => 'references-' . $i
 			],
 			__METHOD__
@@ -168,7 +167,7 @@ class ApiQueryReferences extends ApiQueryBase {
 			// no refs stored in page_props at this index
 			if ( $i > 1 ) {
 				// shouldn't happen
-				wfDebug( "Failed to retrieve stored references for title id $id" );
+				wfDebug( "Failed to retrieve stored references for title id $pageId" );
 			}
 			return false;
 		}
@@ -182,10 +181,10 @@ class ApiQueryReferences extends ApiQueryBase {
 			}
 			// corrupted json ?
 			// shouldn't happen since when string is truncated, gzdecode should fail
-			wfDebug( "Corrupted json detected when retrieving stored references for title id $id" );
+			wfDebug( "Corrupted json detected when retrieving stored references for title id $pageId" );
 		}
 		// if gzdecode fails, try to fetch next references- property value
-		return $this->recursiveFetchRefsFromDB( $title, $dbr, $string, ++$i );
+		return $this->recursiveFetchRefsFromDB( $pageId, $dbr, $string, ++$i );
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/unit/ApiQueryReferencesTest.php b/tests/phpunit/unit/ApiQueryReferencesTest.php
index 3485f6937..56731b374 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/unit/ApiQueryReferencesTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/unit/ApiQueryReferencesTest.php
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ use ApiMain;
 use ApiQuery;
 use ApiQueryReferences;
 use IContextSource;
-use Title;
 use Wikimedia\AtEase\AtEase;
 use Wikimedia\Rdbms\IDatabase;
 use Wikimedia\TestingAccessWrapper;
@@ -36,8 +35,7 @@ class ApiQueryReferencesTest extends \MediaWikiUnitTestCase {
 	 */
 	public function testGetStoredReferences_storeDisabled() {
 		$api = $this->newApiQueryReferences();
-		$title = $this->createMock( Title::class );
-		$this->assertFalse( $api->getStoredReferences( $title ) );
+		$this->assertFalse( $api->getStoredReferences( 0 ) );
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -45,13 +43,12 @@ class ApiQueryReferencesTest extends \MediaWikiUnitTestCase {
 	 */
 	public function testRecursiveFetchRefsFromDB_fails() {
 		$api = $this->newApiQueryReferences();
-		$title = $this->createMock( Title::class );
 
 		$dbr = $this->createMock( IDatabase::class );
 		$dbr->method( 'selectField' )
 			->willReturn( false );
 
-		$this->assertFalse( $api->recursiveFetchRefsFromDB( $title, $dbr ) );
+		$this->assertFalse( $api->recursiveFetchRefsFromDB( 0, $dbr ) );
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -59,13 +56,12 @@ class ApiQueryReferencesTest extends \MediaWikiUnitTestCase {
 	 */
 	public function testRecursiveFetchRefsFromDB_firstTry() {
 		$api = $this->newApiQueryReferences();
-		$title = $this->createMock( Title::class );
 
 		$dbr = $this->createMock( IDatabase::class );
 		$dbr->method( 'selectField' )
 			->willReturn( gzencode( '{"refs":{}}' ) );
 
-		$this->assertSame( [ 'refs' => [] ], $api->recursiveFetchRefsFromDB( $title, $dbr ) );
+		$this->assertSame( [ 'refs' => [] ], $api->recursiveFetchRefsFromDB( 0, $dbr ) );
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -73,7 +69,6 @@ class ApiQueryReferencesTest extends \MediaWikiUnitTestCase {
 	 */
 	public function testRecursiveFetchRefsFromDB_secondTry() {
 		$api = $this->newApiQueryReferences();
-		$title = $this->createMock( Title::class );
 
 		$dbr = $this->createMock( IDatabase::class );
 		$dbr->expects( $this->exactly( 2 ) )
@@ -82,7 +77,7 @@ class ApiQueryReferencesTest extends \MediaWikiUnitTestCase {
 
 		// Code relies on gzdecode() returning false, but that reports an error now
 		AtEase::suppressWarnings();
-		$refs = $api->recursiveFetchRefsFromDB( $title, $dbr );
+		$refs = $api->recursiveFetchRefsFromDB( 0, $dbr );
 		AtEase::restoreWarnings();
 
 		$this->assertSame( [ 'refs' => [] ], $refs );