diff --git a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/BaseHapiFhirDao.java b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/BaseHapiFhirDao.java
index bd2e964e523..1fc0bb8f9d2 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/BaseHapiFhirDao.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/BaseHapiFhirDao.java
@@ -1206,6 +1206,7 @@ public abstract class BaseHapiFhirDao<T extends IBaseResource> extends BaseStora
 			if (thePerformIndexing || ((ResourceTable) theEntity).getVersion() == 1) {
 
 				newParams = new ResourceIndexedSearchParams();
+				//FIX ME GGG: This is where the placeholder references end up getting created, deeeeeep down the stakc.
 				mySearchParamWithInlineReferencesExtractor.populateFromResource(newParams, theTransactionDetails, entity, theResource, existingParams, theRequest, thePerformIndexing);
 
 				changed = populateResourceIntoEntity(theTransactionDetails, theRequest, theResource, entity, true);
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/index/DaoResourceLinkResolver.java b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/index/DaoResourceLinkResolver.java
index a219f39f292..07daf83c2da 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/index/DaoResourceLinkResolver.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/index/DaoResourceLinkResolver.java
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ public class DaoResourceLinkResolver implements IResourceLinkResolver {
 				throw new InvalidRequestException("Resource " + resName + "/" + idPart + " not found, specified in path: " + theSourcePath);
 
 			}
-
 			resolvedResource = createdTableOpt.get();
 		}
 
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/r4/FhirResourceDaoR4VersionedReferenceTest.java b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/r4/FhirResourceDaoR4VersionedReferenceTest.java
index d682d9a6304..7476befb401 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/r4/FhirResourceDaoR4VersionedReferenceTest.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/r4/FhirResourceDaoR4VersionedReferenceTest.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package ca.uhn.fhir.jpa.dao.r4;
 
 import ca.uhn.fhir.context.FhirContext;
 import ca.uhn.fhir.jpa.api.config.DaoConfig;
+import ca.uhn.fhir.jpa.api.model.DaoMethodOutcome;
 import ca.uhn.fhir.jpa.model.entity.ModelConfig;
 import ca.uhn.fhir.jpa.partition.SystemRequestDetails;
 import ca.uhn.fhir.jpa.provider.r4.ResourceProviderR4Test;
@@ -34,7 +35,9 @@ import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.function.Supplier;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
 import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.matchesPattern;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
@@ -803,7 +806,30 @@ public class FhirResourceDaoR4VersionedReferenceTest extends BaseJpaR4Test {
 		Bundle bundle = myFhirCtx.newJsonParser().parseResource(Bundle.class, new InputStreamReader(FhirResourceDaoR4VersionedReferenceTest.class.getResourceAsStream("/npe-causing-bundle.json")));
 
 		Bundle transaction = mySystemDao.transaction(new SystemRequestDetails(), bundle);
+	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testAutoVersionPathsWithAutoCreatePlaceholders() {
+		myDaoConfig.setAutoCreatePlaceholderReferenceTargets(true);
+
+		Observation obs = new Observation();
+		obs.setId("Observation/CDE");
+		obs.setSubject(new Reference("Patient/ABC"));
+		DaoMethodOutcome update = myObservationDao.create(obs);
+		Observation resource = (Observation)update.getResource();
+		String versionedPatientReference = resource.getSubject().getReference();
+		assertThat(versionedPatientReference, is(equalTo("Patient/ABC")));
+
+		myModelConfig.setAutoVersionReferenceAtPaths("Observation.subject");
+
+		obs = new Observation();
+		obs.setId("Observation/DEF");
+		obs.setSubject(new Reference("Patient/RED"));
+		update = myObservationDao.create(obs);
+		resource = (Observation)update.getResource();
+		versionedPatientReference = resource.getSubject().getReference();
+
+		assertThat(versionedPatientReference, is(equalTo("Patient/RED/_history/1")));
 	}
 
 
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/test/resources/npe-causing-bundle.json b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/test/resources/npe-causing-bundle.json
index ef1d7645e5b..a645b167d35 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/test/resources/npe-causing-bundle.json
+++ b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/test/resources/npe-causing-bundle.json
@@ -28,14 +28,14 @@
 			},
 			"use": "claim",
 			"patient": {
-				"reference": "Patient/123"
+				"reference": "Patient/ABC"
 			},
 			"billablePeriod": {
 				"start": "2015-12-14T00:00:00-05:00"
 			},
 			"created": "2021-08-16T13:54:10-04:00",
 			"insurer": {
-				"reference": "Organization/1"
+				"reference": "Organization/A"
 			},
 			"provider": {
 				"reference": "Organization/b9d22776-1ee9-3843-bc48-b4bf67861483"
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
 			"careTeam": [ {
 				"sequence": 1,
 				"provider": {
-					"reference": "Practitioner/1"
+					"reference": "Practitioner/H"
 				},
 				"role": {
 					"coding": [ {
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
 			}, {
 				"sequence": 2,
 				"provider": {
-					"reference": "Practitioner/2"
+					"reference": "Practitioner/I"
 				},
 				"role": {
 					"coding": [ {
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
 			}, {
 				"sequence": 3,
 				"provider": {
-					"reference": "Practitioner/3"
+					"reference": "Practitioner/J"
 				},
 				"role": {
 					"coding": [ {
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@
 			"insurance": [ {
 				"focal": true,
 				"coverage": {
-					"reference": "Coverage/10"
+					"reference": "Coverage/G"
 				}
 			} ],
 			"total": [ {
@@ -185,14 +185,14 @@
 			},
 			"use": "claim",
 			"patient": {
-				"reference": "Patient/123"
+				"reference": "Patient/ABC"
 			},
 			"billablePeriod": {
 				"start": "2015-12-18T00:00:00-05:00"
 			},
 			"created": "2021-08-16T13:54:10-04:00",
 			"insurer": {
-				"reference": "Organization/1"
+				"reference": "Organization/A"
 			},
 			"provider": {
 				"reference": "Organization/d10823cf-ee15-3a0e-a12e-1509cd18cda4"
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@
 			"careTeam": [ {
 				"sequence": 1,
 				"provider": {
-					"reference": "Practitioner/4"
+					"reference": "Practitioner/D"
 				},
 				"role": {
 					"coding": [ {
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@
 			}, {
 				"sequence": 2,
 				"provider": {
-					"reference": "Practitioner/5"
+					"reference": "Practitioner/E"
 				},
 				"role": {
 					"coding": [ {
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@
 			}, {
 				"sequence": 3,
 				"provider": {
-					"reference": "Practitioner/6"
+					"reference": "Practitioner/F"
 				},
 				"role": {
 					"coding": [ {
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@
 			"insurance": [ {
 				"focal": true,
 				"coverage": {
-					"reference": "Coverage/10"
+					"reference": "Coverage/G"
 				}
 			} ],
 			"total": [ {