diff --git a/src/main/java/org/spdx/library/SpdxConstants.java b/src/main/java/org/spdx/library/SpdxConstants.java
index e1080b6b2..41967413c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/spdx/library/SpdxConstants.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/spdx/library/SpdxConstants.java
@@ -228,6 +228,7 @@ public class SpdxConstants {
 	public static final String PROP_BUILT_DATE = "builtDate";
 	public static final String PROP_RELEASE_DATE = "releaseDate";
 	public static final String PROP_VALID_UNTIL_DATE = "validUntilDate";
+	public static final Pattern REFERENCE_TYPE_URI_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("https?://spdx.org/rdf/references/.+");
 	
 	// SPDX License Properties
 	// The comment property is the RDFS_PROP_COMMENT property in the rdfs namespace
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/spdx/library/model/SimpleUriValue.java b/src/main/java/org/spdx/library/model/SimpleUriValue.java
index ddd9950aa..64dd0e7d5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/spdx/library/model/SimpleUriValue.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/spdx/library/model/SimpleUriValue.java
@@ -100,6 +100,8 @@ public Object toModelObject(IModelStore store, String documentUri, ModelCopyMana
 			return ExternalSpdxElement.uriToExternalSpdxElement(uri, store, documentUri, copyManager);
 		} else if (SpdxConstants.EXTERNAL_EXTRACTED_LICENSE_URI_PATTERN.matcher(uri).matches()) {
 			return ExternalExtractedLicenseInfo.uriToExternalExtractedLicense(uri, store, documentUri, copyManager);
+		} else if (SpdxConstants.REFERENCE_TYPE_URI_PATTERN.matcher(uri).matches()) {
+			return new ReferenceType(this);
 		} else if (SpdxConstants.URI_VALUE_NONE.equals(uri)) {
 			// Default value is a license, although it can also be a string or an SpdxElement
 			// the caller should override the type based on the type expected