diff --git a/internal/osvutils/validate.go b/internal/osvutils/validate.go
index 169d3a0..be9297c 100644
--- a/internal/osvutils/validate.go
+++ b/internal/osvutils/validate.go
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@
 	errNoSummary           = errors.New("summary field is empty")
 	errNoDetails           = errors.New("details field is empty")
 	errNoAffected          = errors.New("affected field is empty")
-	errNoReferences        = errors.New("references field is empty")
 	errNoDatabaseSpecific  = errors.New("database_specific field is empty")
 	errNoModule            = errors.New("affected field missing module path")
 	errNotGoEcosystem      = errors.New("affected ecosystem is not Go")
@@ -95,8 +94,6 @@
 		return errNoDetails
 	case len(e.Affected) == 0:
 		return errNoAffected
-	case len(e.References) == 0:
-		return errNoReferences
 	case e.DatabaseSpecific == nil:
 		return errNoDatabaseSpecific
 	}
diff --git a/internal/osvutils/validate_test.go b/internal/osvutils/validate_test.go
index 605fb90..922a5dc 100644
--- a/internal/osvutils/validate_test.go
+++ b/internal/osvutils/validate_test.go
@@ -170,13 +170,6 @@
 				wantErr: errNoAffected,
 			},
 			{
-				name: "no references",
-				entry: testEntry(func(e *osv.Entry) {
-					e.References = nil
-				}),
-				wantErr: errNoReferences,
-			},
-			{
 				name: "no database specific",
 				entry: testEntry(func(e *osv.Entry) {
 					e.DatabaseSpecific = nil