diff --git a/internal/ast/builder.go b/internal/ast/builder.go
index fc5681afe..ebdd5d9dc 100644
--- a/internal/ast/builder.go
+++ b/internal/ast/builder.go
@@ -63,31 +63,51 @@ type Assignment struct {
 type BuilderGenerator struct {
 }
 
-func (generator *BuilderGenerator) FromAST(schemas []*Schema) []Builder {
+func (generator *BuilderGenerator) FromAST(schemas Schemas) []Builder {
 	builders := make([]Builder, 0, len(schemas))
 
 	for _, schema := range schemas {
 		for _, object := range schema.Objects {
-			// we only want builders for structs
-			if object.Type.Kind != KindStruct {
+			// we only want builders for structs or references to structs
+			if object.Type.Kind == KindRef {
+				ref := object.Type.AsRef()
+				referredObj, found := schemas.LocateObject(ref.ReferredPkg, ref.ReferredType)
+				if !found {
+					continue
+				}
+
+				if referredObj.Type.Kind != KindStruct {
+					continue
+				}
+			}
+
+			if object.Type.Kind != KindStruct && object.Type.Kind != KindRef {
 				continue
 			}
 
-			builders = append(builders, generator.structObjectToBuilder(schema, object))
+			builders = append(builders, generator.structObjectToBuilder(schemas, schema, object))
 		}
 	}
 
 	return builders
 }
 
-func (generator *BuilderGenerator) structObjectToBuilder(schema *Schema, object Object) Builder {
+func (generator *BuilderGenerator) structObjectToBuilder(schemas Schemas, schema *Schema, object Object) Builder {
 	builder := Builder{
 		RootPackage: schema.Package,
 		Package:     object.Name,
 		Schema:      schema,
 		For:         object,
 	}
-	structType := object.Type.AsStruct()
+
+	var structType StructType
+	if object.Type.Kind == KindStruct {
+		structType = object.Type.AsStruct()
+	} else {
+		ref := object.Type.AsRef()
+		referredObj, _ := schemas.LocateObject(ref.ReferredPkg, ref.ReferredType)
+		structType = referredObj.Type.AsStruct()
+	}
 
 	for _, field := range structType.Fields {
 		if generator.fieldHasStaticValue(field) {
diff --git a/internal/ast/compiler/disjunctions.go b/internal/ast/compiler/disjunctions.go
index 575fb3bad..ba04c00a8 100644
--- a/internal/ast/compiler/disjunctions.go
+++ b/internal/ast/compiler/disjunctions.go
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ func (pass *DisjunctionToType) inferDiscriminatorField(schema *ast.Schema, def a
 	for _, branch := range def.Branches {
 		// FIXME: what if the definition is itself a reference? Resolve recursively?
 		typeName := branch.AsRef().ReferredType
-		structType := schema.LocateDefinition(typeName).Type.AsStruct()
+		structType := schema.LocateObject(typeName).Type.AsStruct()
 		candidates[typeName] = make(map[string]any)
 
 		for _, field := range structType.Fields {
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ func (pass *DisjunctionToType) buildDiscriminatorMapping(schema *ast.Schema, def
 	for _, branch := range def.Branches {
 		// FIXME: what if the definition is itself a reference? Resolve recursively?
 		typeName := branch.AsRef().ReferredType
-		structType := schema.LocateDefinition(typeName).Type.AsStruct()
+		structType := schema.LocateObject(typeName).Type.AsStruct()
 
 		field, found := structType.FieldByName(def.Discriminator)
 		if !found {
diff --git a/internal/ast/schema.go b/internal/ast/schema.go
index d624b7fe7..565068de2 100644
--- a/internal/ast/schema.go
+++ b/internal/ast/schema.go
@@ -15,6 +15,21 @@ const (
 
 type Schemas []*Schema
 
+func (schemas Schemas) LocateObject(pkg string, name string) (Object, bool) {
+	for _, schema := range schemas {
+		if schema.Package != pkg {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		obj := schema.LocateObject(name)
+
+		// TODO: schema.LocateObject() should return a "found" boolean
+		return obj, obj.Name != ""
+	}
+
+	return Object{}, false
+}
+
 func (schemas Schemas) DeepCopy() []*Schema {
 	newSchemas := make([]*Schema, 0, len(schemas))
 
@@ -46,7 +61,7 @@ func (schema *Schema) DeepCopy() Schema {
 	return newSchema
 }
 
-func (schema *Schema) LocateDefinition(name string) Object {
+func (schema *Schema) LocateObject(name string) Object {
 	for _, def := range schema.Objects {
 		if def.Name == name {
 			return def
diff --git a/internal/veneers/option/actions.go b/internal/veneers/option/actions.go
index c7fd47ce2..100be0853 100644
--- a/internal/veneers/option/actions.go
+++ b/internal/veneers/option/actions.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func StructFieldsAsArgumentsAction(explicitFields ...string) RewriteAction {
 
 		firstArgType := option.Args[0].Type
 		if firstArgType.Kind == ast.KindRef {
-			referredObject := builder.Schema.LocateDefinition(firstArgType.AsRef().ReferredType)
+			referredObject := builder.Schema.LocateObject(firstArgType.AsRef().ReferredType)
 			firstArgType = referredObject.Type
 		}