diff --git a/src/Parsoid/References.php b/src/Parsoid/References.php
index 64a597f81..9e5a425e2 100644
--- a/src/Parsoid/References.php
+++ b/src/Parsoid/References.php
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ use Cite\Cite;
 use Cite\MarkSymbolRenderer;
 use Closure;
 use MediaWiki\Config\Config;
-use MediaWiki\HtmlHelper;
 use MediaWiki\MediaWikiServices;
 use stdClass;
 use Wikimedia\Message\MessageValue;
@@ -28,7 +27,6 @@ use Wikimedia\Parsoid\NodeData\DataMw;
 use Wikimedia\Parsoid\NodeData\DataMwError;
 use Wikimedia\Parsoid\NodeData\DataParsoid;
 use Wikimedia\Parsoid\Utils\DOMCompat;
-use Wikimedia\RemexHtml\Serializer\SerializerNode;
 
 /**
  * @license GPL-2.0-or-later
@@ -225,7 +223,7 @@ class References extends ExtensionTagHandler {
 						$ref->cachedHtml = $extApi->domToHtml( $refContent, true, false );
 					}
 					$html = $extApi->domToHtml( $c, true, false );
-					$contentDiffers = ( $this->normalizeRef( $html ) !== $this->normalizeRef( $ref->cachedHtml ) );
+					$contentDiffers = ( $html !== $ref->cachedHtml );
 				}
 			} else {
 				if ( $refsData->inReferencesContent() ) {
@@ -877,17 +875,4 @@ class References extends ExtensionTagHandler {
 
 		return false;
 	}
-
-	private function normalizeRef( string $s ): string {
-		return HtmlHelper::modifyElements( $s,
-			static function ( SerializerNode $node ): bool {
-				return isset( $node->attrs['data-parsoid'] ) || isset( $node->attrs['about'] );
-			},
-			static function ( SerializerNode $node ): SerializerNode {
-				unset( $node->attrs['data-parsoid'] );
-				unset( $node->attrs['about'] );
-				return $node;
-			}
-		);
-	}
 }