diff --git a/src/Cite.php b/src/Cite.php
index 6d1c98786..a6dce9512 100644
--- a/src/Cite.php
+++ b/src/Cite.php
@@ -193,11 +193,16 @@ class Cite {
 	 * parsed or default values.  Missing attributes will be `null`.
 	 */
 	private function parseArguments( array $argv, array $allowedAttributes ): StatusValue {
-		$maxCount = count( $allowedAttributes );
+		$expected = count( $allowedAttributes );
 		$allValues = array_merge( array_fill_keys( $allowedAttributes, null ), $argv );
-		$status = StatusValue::newGood( array_slice( $allValues, 0, $maxCount ) );
+		if ( isset( $allValues['dir'] ) ) {
+			// @phan-suppress-next-line PhanTypeMismatchArgumentNullableInternal False positive
+			$allValues['dir'] = strtolower( $allValues['dir'] );
+		}
 
-		if ( count( $allValues ) > $maxCount ) {
+		$status = StatusValue::newGood( array_slice( $allValues, 0, $expected ) );
+
+		if ( count( $allValues ) > $expected ) {
 			// A <ref> must have a name (can be null), but <references> can't have one
 			$status->fatal( in_array( 'name', $allowedAttributes, true )
 				? 'cite_error_ref_too_many_keys'
diff --git a/src/ReferencesFormatter.php b/src/ReferencesFormatter.php
index 0ce345ef6..f3dccabd3 100644
--- a/src/ReferencesFormatter.php
+++ b/src/ReferencesFormatter.php
@@ -154,11 +154,10 @@ class ReferencesFormatter {
 		$extraAttributes = '';
 
 		if ( isset( $val['dir'] ) ) {
-			$dir = strtolower( $val['dir'] );
 			// The following classes are generated here:
 			// * mw-cite-dir-ltr
 			// * mw-cite-dir-rtl
-			$extraAttributes = Html::expandAttributes( [ 'class' => 'mw-cite-dir-' . $dir ] );
+			$extraAttributes = Html::expandAttributes( [ 'class' => 'mw-cite-dir-' . $val['dir'] ] );
 		}
 
 		// Special case for an incomplete follow="…". This is valid e.g. in the Page:… namespace on
diff --git a/src/Validator.php b/src/Validator.php
index fae896b1b..3bb6f0f9c 100644
--- a/src/Validator.php
+++ b/src/Validator.php
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ class Validator {
 			return StatusValue::newFatal( 'cite_error_ref_follow_conflicts' );
 		}
 
-		if ( $dir !== null && !in_array( strtolower( $dir ), [ 'ltr', 'rtl' ], true ) ) {
+		if ( $dir !== null && $dir !== 'rtl' && $dir !== 'ltr' ) {
 			return StatusValue::newFatal( 'cite_error_ref_invalid_dir', $dir );
 		}
 
diff --git a/tests/parser/citeParserTests.txt b/tests/parser/citeParserTests.txt
index 191ac936c..849641ccf 100644
--- a/tests/parser/citeParserTests.txt
+++ b/tests/parser/citeParserTests.txt
@@ -1324,7 +1324,7 @@ T202593: Conflicting dir attributes with the full ref first
 !! test
 T202593: Identical dir attributes are pointless, but should not generate an error
 !! wikitext
-<ref name="a" dir="rtl" />
+<ref name="a" dir="RTL" />
 <ref name="a" dir="rtl">abc</ref>
 <references />
 !! html/php
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/integration/CiteTest.php b/tests/phpunit/integration/CiteTest.php
index 17df73872..fb1234663 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/integration/CiteTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/integration/CiteTest.php
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class CiteTest extends \MediaWikiIntegrationTestCase {
 				'attributes' => [ 'dir' => 'invalid' ],
 				'expectedValue' => [ 'invalid', null, null, null, null ] ],
 			[
-				'attributes' => [ 'dir' => 'rtl' ],
+				'attributes' => [ 'dir' => 'RTL' ],
 				'expectedValue' => [ 'rtl', null, null, null, null ] ],
 			[
 				'attributes' => [ 'follow' => 'f' ],
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/integration/ValidatorTest.php b/tests/phpunit/integration/ValidatorTest.php
index f45f743ef..34f2ca6af 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/integration/ValidatorTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/integration/ValidatorTest.php
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ class ValidatorTest extends \MediaWikiIntegrationTestCase {
 				'name' => 'n',
 				'extends' => null,
 				'follow' => null,
-				'dir' => 'RTL',
+				'dir' => 'rtl',
 				'expected' => null,
 			],
 			'Bad dir' => [