diff --git a/hapi-fhir-validation/src/main/java/org/hl7/fhir/dstu3/validation/InstanceValidator.java b/hapi-fhir-validation/src/main/java/org/hl7/fhir/dstu3/validation/InstanceValidator.java
index b0b1826613e..1b388001c7e 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-validation/src/main/java/org/hl7/fhir/dstu3/validation/InstanceValidator.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-validation/src/main/java/org/hl7/fhir/dstu3/validation/InstanceValidator.java
@@ -105,7 +105,6 @@ import org.w3c.dom.Node;
 
 import com.google.gson.Gson;
 import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
-import com.google.gson.stream.JsonWriter;
 
 import ca.uhn.fhir.util.ObjectUtil;
 
@@ -293,6 +292,8 @@ public class InstanceValidator extends BaseValidator implements IResourceValidat
     source = Source.InstanceValidator;
   }
 
+
+
   @Override
   public boolean isNoInvariantChecks() {
     return noInvariantChecks;
@@ -1357,19 +1358,33 @@ public class InstanceValidator extends BaseValidator implements IResourceValidat
     checkFixedValue(errors, path + ".denominator", focus.getNamedChild("denominator"), fixed.getDenominator(), "denominator", focus);
   }
 
+	private Reference readAsReference(Element item) {
+		Reference r = new Reference();
+		r.setDisplay(item.getNamedChildValue("display"));
+		r.setReference(item.getNamedChildValue("reference"));
+		List<Element> identifier = item.getChildrenByName("identifier");
+		if (identifier.isEmpty() == false) {
+			r.setIdentifier(readAsIdentifier(identifier.get(0)));
+		}
+		return r;
+	}
+	private Identifier readAsIdentifier(Element item) {
+		Identifier r = new Identifier();
+		r.setSystem(item.getNamedChildValue("system"));
+		r.setValue(item.getNamedChildValue("value"));
+		return r;
+	}
+
   private void checkReference(Object appContext, List<ValidationMessage> errors, String path, Element element, StructureDefinition profile, ElementDefinition container, String parentType, NodeStack stack) throws FHIRException, IOException {
-    String ref = null;
-    try {
-      // Do this inside a try because invalid instances might provide more than one reference.
-      ref = element.getNamedChildValue("reference");
-    } catch (Error e) {
-      
-    }
-    if (Utilities.noString(ref)) {
-      // todo - what should we do in this case?
-      warning(errors, IssueType.STRUCTURE, element.line(), element.col(), path, !Utilities.noString(element.getNamedChildValue("display")), "A Reference without an actual reference should have a display");
-      return;
-    }
+	  Reference reference = readAsReference(element);
+
+	  String ref = reference.getReference();
+	  if (Utilities.noString(ref)) {
+		  if (Utilities.noString(reference.getIdentifier().getSystem()) && Utilities.noString(reference.getIdentifier().getValue())) {
+			  warning(errors, IssueType.STRUCTURE, element.line(), element.col(), path, !Utilities.noString(element.getNamedChildValue("display")), "A Reference without an actual reference or identifier should have a display");
+		  }
+		  return;
+	  }
 
     Element we = localResolve(ref, stack, errors, path);
     String refType;