diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7fcac14089..97dc897339 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 ### Features
 - [Netkan] Purge downloads that failed to index from Netkan cache (#2526 by: HebaruSan; reviewed: politas)
 - [Multiple] Add download count column to GUI (#2518 by: HebaruSan; reviewed: politas)
+- [Netkan] Catch invalid $kref in Netkan (#2516 by: HebaruSan; reviewed: politas)
 
 ### Bugfixes
 - [GUI] Show innermost download exceptions (#2528 by: HebaruSan; reviewed: politas)
diff --git a/Netkan/CKAN-netkan.csproj b/Netkan/CKAN-netkan.csproj
index fa40f2496a..4ec0556df2 100644
--- a/Netkan/CKAN-netkan.csproj
+++ b/Netkan/CKAN-netkan.csproj
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@
     <Compile Include="Validators\InstallsFilesValidator.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Validators\IsCkanModuleValidator.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Validators\IValidator.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Validators\KrefValidator.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Validators\MatchingIdentifiersValidator.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Validators\NetkanValidator.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
diff --git a/Netkan/Model/RemoteRef.cs b/Netkan/Model/RemoteRef.cs
index 05d4804a48..2b60b21e72 100644
--- a/Netkan/Model/RemoteRef.cs
+++ b/Netkan/Model/RemoteRef.cs
@@ -25,7 +25,9 @@ private RemoteRef(Arguments arguments)
             Source = arguments.Source;
             Id = arguments.Id;
 
-            _string = Id == null ? string.Format("#/{0}", Source) : string.Format("#/{0}/{1}", Source, Id);
+            _string = Id == null
+                ? $"#/ckan/{Source}"
+                : $"#/ckan/{Source}/{Id}";
         }
 
         public override string ToString()
diff --git a/Netkan/Validators/KrefValidator.cs b/Netkan/Validators/KrefValidator.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9afb139f2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Netkan/Validators/KrefValidator.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+using log4net;
+using CKAN.NetKAN.Model;
+using CKAN.NetKAN.Services;
+
+namespace CKAN.NetKAN.Validators
+{
+    internal sealed class KrefValidator : IValidator
+    {
+        public KrefValidator() { }
+
+        public void Validate(Metadata metadata)
+        {
+            Log.Info("Validating that metadata contains valid or null $kref");
+
+            switch (metadata.Kref?.Source)
+            {
+                case null:
+                case "curse":
+                case "github":
+                case "http":
+                case "jenkins":
+                case "netkan":
+                case "spacedock":
+                    // We know this $kref, looks good
+                    break;
+
+                default:
+                    // Anything not in the above list won't trigger a Transformer
+                    throw new Kraken($"Invalid $kref: {metadata.Kref}");
+            }
+
+        }
+
+        private static readonly ILog Log = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(KrefValidator));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Netkan/Validators/NetkanValidator.cs b/Netkan/Validators/NetkanValidator.cs
index b0022e037a..b480860953 100644
--- a/Netkan/Validators/NetkanValidator.cs
+++ b/Netkan/Validators/NetkanValidator.cs
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ public NetkanValidator()
         {
             _validators = new List<IValidator>
             {
-                new HasIdentifierValidator()
+                new HasIdentifierValidator(),
+                new KrefValidator()
             };
         }