diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/bytecode/enhancement/lazy/ReferenceLoadedEnhancedEntityTest.java b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/bytecode/enhancement/lazy/ReferenceLoadedEnhancedEntityTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4e6645ead7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/bytecode/enhancement/lazy/ReferenceLoadedEnhancedEntityTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+/*
+ * Hibernate, Relational Persistence for Idiomatic Java
+ *
+ * License: GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), version 2.1 or later.
+ * See the lgpl.txt file in the root directory or <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.html>.
+ */
+package org.hibernate.orm.test.bytecode.enhancement.lazy;
+
+import org.hibernate.ObjectNotFoundException;
+import org.hibernate.cfg.AvailableSettings;
+import org.hibernate.cfg.Configuration;
+
+import org.hibernate.testing.bytecode.enhancement.BytecodeEnhancerRunner;
+import org.hibernate.testing.junit4.BaseCoreFunctionalTestCase;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.JiraKey;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+
+import jakarta.persistence.Entity;
+import jakarta.persistence.GeneratedValue;
+import jakarta.persistence.Id;
+import jakarta.persistence.Table;
+
+import static org.hibernate.testing.transaction.TransactionUtil.doInHibernate;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
+
+/**
+ * Verifies that an object loaded via getReference and with
+ * 1) batching enabled
+ * 2) with bytecode enhancement
+ * throws an ObjectNotFoundException as expected, when the object
+ * doesn't exist in the database and a property is being read
+ * forcing initialization.
+ */
+@RunWith(BytecodeEnhancerRunner.class)
+@JiraKey("HHH-16669")
+public class ReferenceLoadedEnhancedEntityTest extends BaseCoreFunctionalTestCase {
+
+	@Override
+	public Class<?>[] getAnnotatedClasses() {
+		return new Class<?>[] { Country.class };
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	protected void configure(Configuration configuration) {
+		configuration.setProperty( AvailableSettings.DEFAULT_BATCH_FETCH_SIZE, "10" );
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void referenceLoadAlwaysWorks() {
+		doInHibernate( this::sessionFactory, s -> {
+			//Materialize a reference to an object which doesn't exist
+			final Country entity = s.getReference( Country.class, 1L );
+			//should be fine..
+		} );
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void referenceNotExisting() {
+		Exception exception = assertThrows( ObjectNotFoundException.class,
+				() -> doInHibernate( this::sessionFactory, s -> {
+			//Materialize a reference to an object which doesn't exist
+			final Country entity = s.getReference( Country.class, 1L );
+			//This should fail:
+			final String name = entity.getName();
+			//Ensure we failed at the previous line:
+			Assert.fail( "Should have thrown an ObjectNotFoundException exception before reaching this point" );
+		} ) );
+		assertNotNull( exception );
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void referenceNotExisting2() {
+		Exception exception = assertThrows( ObjectNotFoundException.class,
+				() -> doInHibernate( this::sessionFactory, s -> {
+			//Materialize a reference to an object which doesn't exist
+			final Country entity = s.getReference( Country.class, 1L );
+			final Country entity2 = s.getReference( Country.class, 2L );
+			//This should fail:
+			final String name = entity.getName();
+			//Ensure we failed at the previous line:
+			Assert.fail( "Should have thrown an ObjectNotFoundException exception before reaching this point" );
+		} ) );
+		assertNotNull( exception );
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void referenceNotExistingFieldAccess() {
+		Exception exception = assertThrows( ObjectNotFoundException.class,
+				() -> doInHibernate( this::sessionFactory, s -> {
+			//Materialize a reference to an object which doesn't exist
+			final Country entity = s.getReference( Country.class, 1L );
+			//This should fail:
+			final String name = entity.name;
+			//Ensure we failed at the previous line:
+			Assert.fail( "Should have thrown an ObjectNotFoundException exception before reaching this point" );
+		} ) );
+		assertNotNull( exception );
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void referenceNotExistingFieldAccess2() {
+		Exception exception = assertThrows( ObjectNotFoundException.class,
+				() -> doInHibernate( this::sessionFactory, s -> {
+			//Materialize a reference to an object which doesn't exist
+			final Country entity = s.getReference( Country.class, 1L );
+			final Country entity2 = s.getReference( Country.class, 2L );
+			//This should fail:
+			final String name = entity.name;
+			//Ensure we failed at the previous line:
+			Assert.fail( "Should have thrown an ObjectNotFoundException exception before reaching this point" );
+		} ) );
+		assertNotNull( exception );
+	}
+
+	@Entity
+	@Table(name = "Country")
+	public static class Country {
+		@Id
+		@GeneratedValue
+		public Long id;
+
+		private String name;
+
+		public Long getId() {
+			return id;
+		}
+
+		public void setId(Long id) {
+			this.id = id;
+		}
+
+		public String getName() {
+			return name;
+		}
+
+		public void setName(String name) {
+			this.name = name;
+		}
+	}
+
+}