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 0aa7fdaeefb..9161e8419d2 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
@@ -1550,15 +1550,17 @@ public abstract class BaseHapiFhirDao<T extends IBaseResource> implements IDao,
 					continue;
 				}
 
-				for (IBase nextChild : values) {
-					IBaseReference nextRef = (IBaseReference) nextChild;
-					IIdType referencedId = nextRef.getReferenceElement();
-					if (!isBlank(referencedId.getResourceType())) {
-						if (!isLogicalReference(referencedId)) {
-							if (!referencedId.getValue().contains("?")) {
-								if (!validTypes.contains(referencedId.getResourceType())) {
-									throw new UnprocessableEntityException(
-										"Invalid reference found at path '" + newPath + "'. Resource type '" + referencedId.getResourceType() + "' is not valid for this path");
+				if (getConfig().isEnforceReferenceTargetTypes()) {
+					for (IBase nextChild : values) {
+						IBaseReference nextRef = (IBaseReference) nextChild;
+						IIdType referencedId = nextRef.getReferenceElement();
+						if (!isBlank(referencedId.getResourceType())) {
+							if (!isLogicalReference(referencedId)) {
+								if (!referencedId.getValue().contains("?")) {
+									if (!validTypes.contains(referencedId.getResourceType())) {
+										throw new UnprocessableEntityException(
+											"Invalid reference found at path '" + newPath + "'. Resource type '" + referencedId.getResourceType() + "' is not valid for this path");
+									}
 								}
 							}
 						}
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/DaoConfig.java b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/DaoConfig.java
index 383df71a802..ee89906d4d5 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/DaoConfig.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/DaoConfig.java
@@ -26,9 +26,9 @@ import java.util.*;
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- * 
+ *
  * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -142,6 +142,7 @@ public class DaoConfig {
 	private List<WarmCacheEntry> myWarmCacheEntries = new ArrayList<>();
 	private boolean myDisableHashBasedSearches;
 	private boolean myEnableInMemorySubscriptionMatching = true;
+	private boolean myEnforceReferenceTargetTypes = true;
 	private ClientIdStrategyEnum myResourceClientIdStrategy = ClientIdStrategyEnum.ALPHANUMERIC;
 
 	/**
@@ -161,6 +162,26 @@ public class DaoConfig {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * If set to <code>true</code> (default is true) when a resource is being persisted,
+	 * the target resource types of references will be validated to ensure that they
+	 * are appropriate for the field containing the reference. This is generally a good idea
+	 * because invalid reference target types may not be searchable.
+	 */
+	public boolean isEnforceReferenceTargetTypes() {
+		return myEnforceReferenceTargetTypes;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * If set to <code>true</code> (default is true) when a resource is being persisted,
+	 * the target resource types of references will be validated to ensure that they
+	 * are appropriate for the field containing the reference. This is generally a good idea
+	 * because invalid reference target types may not be searchable.
+	 */
+	public void setEnforceReferenceTargetTypes(boolean theEnforceReferenceTargetTypes) {
+		myEnforceReferenceTargetTypes = theEnforceReferenceTargetTypes;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * If a non-null value is supplied (default is <code>null</code>), a default
 	 * for the <code>_total</code> parameter may be specified here. For example,
@@ -1392,6 +1413,7 @@ public class DaoConfig {
 	/**
 	 * If set to <code>true</code> (default is true) the server will match incoming resources against active subscriptions
 	 * and send them to the subscription channel.  If set to <code>false</code> no matching or sending occurs.
+	 *
 	 * @since 3.7.0
 	 */
 
@@ -1402,6 +1424,7 @@ public class DaoConfig {
 	/**
 	 * If set to <code>true</code> (default is true) the server will match incoming resources against active subscriptions
 	 * and send them to the subscription channel.  If set to <code>false</code> no matching or sending occurs.
+	 *
 	 * @since 3.7.0
 	 */
 
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/r4/FhirResourceDaoR4Test.java b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/r4/FhirResourceDaoR4Test.java
index d9b1472adc4..47c1164da76 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/r4/FhirResourceDaoR4Test.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/r4/FhirResourceDaoR4Test.java
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ public class FhirResourceDaoR4Test extends BaseJpaR4Test {
 		myDaoConfig.setAllowExternalReferences(new DaoConfig().isAllowExternalReferences());
 		myDaoConfig.setTreatReferencesAsLogical(new DaoConfig().getTreatReferencesAsLogical());
 		myDaoConfig.setEnforceReferentialIntegrityOnDelete(new DaoConfig().isEnforceReferentialIntegrityOnDelete());
+		myDaoConfig.setEnforceReferenceTargetTypes(new DaoConfig().isEnforceReferenceTargetTypes());
 	}
 
 	private void assertGone(IIdType theId) {
@@ -945,6 +946,13 @@ public class FhirResourceDaoR4Test extends BaseJpaR4Test {
 			assertEquals("Resource Organization/testCreateWithIllegalReference not found, specified in path: Patient.managingOrganization", e.getMessage());
 		}
 
+		// Disable validation
+		myDaoConfig.setEnforceReferenceTargetTypes(false);
+		Patient p = new Patient();
+		p.getManagingOrganization().setReferenceElement(id1);
+		myPatientDao.create(p, mySrd);
+
+
 	}
 
 	@Test
diff --git a/src/changes/changes.xml b/src/changes/changes.xml
index 2801f4c2697..d9cfd72893d 100644
--- a/src/changes/changes.xml
+++ b/src/changes/changes.xml
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@
 				(e.g. "Patient?identifier=&amp;identifier=b" returned no results even if resources
 				should have matched. Thanks to @mingdatacom for reporting!
 			</action>
+			<action type="add">
+				A new config setting has been added to the JPA DaoConfig that disables validation
+				of the resource type for target resources in references.
+			</action>
 		</release>
 		<release version="3.7.0" date="2019-02-06" description="Gale">
 			<action type="add">