diff --git a/src/libstore/nar-info-disk-cache.cc b/src/libstore/nar-info-disk-cache.cc
index c75043237..288f618d5 100644
--- a/src/libstore/nar-info-disk-cache.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/nar-info-disk-cache.cc
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ public:
                     (narInfo ? narInfo->fileSize : 0, narInfo != 0 && narInfo->fileSize)
                     (info->narHash.to_string(HashFormat::Nix32, true))
                     (info->narSize)
-                    (dropEmptyInitThenConcatStringsSep(" ", info->shortRefs()))
+                    (concatStringsSep(" ", info->shortRefs()))
                     (info->deriver ? std::string(info->deriver->to_string()) : "", (bool) info->deriver)
                     (concatStringsSep(" ", info->sigs))
                     (renderContentAddress(info->ca))
diff --git a/src/libstore/nar-info.cc b/src/libstore/nar-info.cc
index 577466f55..2442a7b09 100644
--- a/src/libstore/nar-info.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/nar-info.cc
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "globals.hh"
 #include "nar-info.hh"
 #include "store-api.hh"
+#include "strings.hh"
 
 namespace nix {
 
@@ -111,7 +112,7 @@ std::string NarInfo::to_string(const Store & store) const
     res += "NarHash: " + narHash.to_string(HashFormat::Nix32, true) + "\n";
     res += "NarSize: " + std::to_string(narSize) + "\n";
 
-    res += "References: " + dropEmptyInitThenConcatStringsSep(" ", shortRefs()) + "\n";
+    res += "References: " + concatStringsSep(" ", shortRefs()) + "\n";
 
     if (deriver)
         res += "Deriver: " + std::string(deriver->to_string()) + "\n";
diff --git a/src/libstore/path-info.hh b/src/libstore/path-info.hh
index caefa7975..71f1476a6 100644
--- a/src/libstore/path-info.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/path-info.hh
@@ -171,6 +171,9 @@ struct ValidPathInfo : UnkeyedValidPathInfo {
      */
     bool checkSignature(const Store & store, const PublicKeys & publicKeys, const std::string & sig) const;
 
+    /**
+     * References as store path basenames, including a self reference if it has one.
+     */
     Strings shortRefs() const;
 
     ValidPathInfo(const ValidPathInfo & other) = default;
diff --git a/tests/unit/libstore/path-info.cc b/tests/unit/libstore/path-info.cc
index 7637cb366..9e9c6303d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libstore/path-info.cc
+++ b/tests/unit/libstore/path-info.cc
@@ -26,9 +26,9 @@ static UnkeyedValidPathInfo makeEmpty()
     };
 }
 
-static UnkeyedValidPathInfo makeFull(const Store & store, bool includeImpureInfo)
+static ValidPathInfo makeFullKeyed(const Store & store, bool includeImpureInfo)
 {
-    UnkeyedValidPathInfo info = ValidPathInfo {
+    ValidPathInfo info = ValidPathInfo {
         store,
         "foo",
         FixedOutputInfo {
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ static UnkeyedValidPathInfo makeFull(const Store & store, bool includeImpureInfo
     }
     return info;
 }
+static UnkeyedValidPathInfo makeFull(const Store & store, bool includeImpureInfo) {
+    return makeFullKeyed(store, includeImpureInfo);
+}
 
 #define JSON_TEST(STEM, OBJ, PURE)                                        \
     TEST_F(PathInfoTest, PathInfo_ ## STEM ## _from_json) {               \
@@ -86,4 +89,13 @@ JSON_TEST(empty_impure, makeEmpty(), true)
 JSON_TEST(pure, makeFull(*store, false), false)
 JSON_TEST(impure, makeFull(*store, true), true)
 
+TEST_F(PathInfoTest, PathInfo_full_shortRefs) {
+    ValidPathInfo it = makeFullKeyed(*store, true);
+    // it.references = unkeyed.references;
+    auto refs = it.shortRefs();
+    ASSERT_EQ(refs.size(), 2);
+    ASSERT_EQ(*refs.begin(), "g1w7hy3qg1w7hy3qg1w7hy3qg1w7hy3q-bar");
+    ASSERT_EQ(*++refs.begin(), "n5wkd9frr45pa74if5gpz9j7mifg27fh-foo");
 }
+
+} // namespace nix