diff --git a/extension.json b/extension.json
index bec54db72..fbbe71f55 100644
--- a/extension.json
+++ b/extension.json
@@ -116,7 +116,6 @@
 			"styles": [
 				"ve.ui.MWReferenceDialog.less",
 				"ve.ui.MWReferenceContextItem.less",
-				"ve.ui.MWReferenceGroupInputWidget.less",
 				"ve.ui.MWReferenceResultWidget.less",
 				"ve.ui.MWReferenceSearchWidget.less",
 				"ve.ui.MWCitationDialogTool.less"
diff --git a/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceGroupInputWidget.js b/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceGroupInputWidget.js
index 201d67ba8..33adebbf5 100644
--- a/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceGroupInputWidget.js
+++ b/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceGroupInputWidget.js
@@ -43,8 +43,7 @@ OO.inheritClass( ve.ui.MWReferenceGroupInputWidget, OO.ui.ComboBoxInputWidget );
 ve.ui.MWReferenceGroupInputWidget.prototype.populateMenu = function ( internalList ) {
 	const items = [ new OO.ui.MenuOptionWidget( {
 		data: '',
-		label: this.emptyGroupName,
-		flags: 'emptyGroupPlaceholder'
+		label: this.emptyGroupName
 	} ) ];
 	for ( const groupName in internalList.getNodeGroups() ) {
 		const match = groupName.match( /^mwReference\/(.+)/ );
diff --git a/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceGroupInputWidget.less b/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceGroupInputWidget.less
deleted file mode 100644
index 227f7f012..000000000
--- a/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceGroupInputWidget.less
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-/*!
- * VisualEditor MediaWiki UserInterface MWReferenceGroupInputWidget styles.
- *
- * @copyright 2011-2018 VisualEditor Team's Cite sub-team and others; see AUTHORS.txt
- * @license MIT
- */
-
-.ve-ui-mwReferenceGroupInputWidget .oo-ui-flaggableElement-emptyGroupPlaceholder {
-	color: #72777d;
-}