diff --git a/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/index.ts b/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/index.ts
index 80451bdd..791d47ba 100644
--- a/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/index.ts
+++ b/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/index.ts
@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@ import { zuiKey } from '../../ui/constants'
 import { JsonSchema7Type } from '../zui-to-json-schema/parseDef'
 import { parseSchema } from './parsers/parseSchema'
 import { ZuiExtensionObject } from '../../ui/types'
+import { JSONSchemaExtended } from './types'
 
-const jsonSchemaToZodStr = (schema: any): string => {
+export const jsonSchemaToZodStr = (schema: JSONSchemaExtended): string => {
   return parseSchema(schema, {
     seen: new Map(),
     path: [],
diff --git a/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/json-schema-to-zui.test.ts b/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/json-schema-to-zui.test.ts
index 78492889..1f5042e4 100644
--- a/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/json-schema-to-zui.test.ts
+++ b/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/json-schema-to-zui.test.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 import { describe, expect, test } from 'vitest'
 import { ZodTypeAny, z } from '../../z/index'
 import { zuiKey } from '../../ui/constants'
-import { jsonSchemaToZui, traverseZodDefinitions } from '.'
+import { jsonSchemaToZodStr, jsonSchemaToZui, traverseZodDefinitions } from '.'
 import { zuiToJsonSchema } from '../zui-to-json-schema/zui-extension'
+import { JSONSchema7 } from 'json-schema'
 
 const testZuiConversion = (zuiObject: ZodTypeAny) => {
   const jsonSchema = zuiToJsonSchema(zuiObject)
@@ -177,4 +178,44 @@ describe('Coercion deserialization', () => {
     const asZui = jsonSchemaToZui(schema)
     expect(asZui._def[zuiKey]?.coerce).toStrictEqual(true)
   })
+
+  it('should convert unresolved refs to zod refs', async () => {
+    const schema: JSONSchema7 = {
+      type: 'object',
+      properties: {
+        foo: { $ref: '#Foo' },
+      },
+      required: ['foo'],
+    }
+    const zStr = jsonSchemaToZodStr(schema)
+    await expect(zStr).toMatchWithoutFormatting(`
+      z.object({ foo: z.ref("#Foo") })
+    `)
+  })
+
+  // TODO: decide if we want to support dereferencing; if not, remove this test, otherwise fix it
+  it.skip('should resolve local refs', async () => {
+    const schema: JSONSchema7 = {
+      $defs: {
+        Foo: {
+          type: 'string',
+          enum: ['foo'],
+        },
+        Bar: {
+          type: 'string',
+          enum: ['bar'],
+        },
+      },
+      type: 'object',
+      properties: {
+        foo: { $ref: '#/$defs/Foo' },
+        bar: { $ref: '#/$defs/Bar' },
+      },
+      required: ['foo', 'bar'],
+    }
+    const zStr = jsonSchemaToZodStr(schema)
+    await expect(zStr).toMatchWithoutFormatting(`
+      z.object({ foo: z.literal("foo"), bar: z.literal("bar") })
+    `)
+  })
 })
diff --git a/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/parsers/parseRef.ts b/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/parsers/parseRef.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..360326cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/parsers/parseRef.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+import { JsonSchemaObject } from '../types'
+
+export const parseRef = (schema: JsonSchemaObject & { $ref: string }) => {
+  return `z.ref('${schema.$ref}')`
+}
diff --git a/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/parsers/parseSchema.ts b/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/parsers/parseSchema.ts
index 242aa92b..0e41c52a 100644
--- a/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/parsers/parseSchema.ts
+++ b/zui/src/transforms/json-schema-to-zui/parsers/parseSchema.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { parseObject } from './parseObject'
 import { parseString } from './parseString'
 import { parseOneOf } from './parseOneOf'
 import { parseNullable } from './parseNullable'
+import { parseRef } from './parseRef'
 import { ParserSelector, Refs, JsonSchemaObject, JsonSchema, Serializable, JSONSchemaExtended } from '../types'
 import { parseDiscriminator } from './parseDiscriminator'
 
@@ -113,6 +114,8 @@ const selectParser: ParserSelector = (schema, refs) => {
     return parseNull(schema)
   } else if (its.a.conditional(schema)) {
     return parseIfThenElse(schema, refs)
+  } else if (its.a.ref(schema)) {
+    return parseRef(schema)
   } else {
     return parseDefault(schema)
   }
@@ -173,5 +176,6 @@ export const its = {
     ): x is JsonSchemaObject & {
       oneOf: JsonSchema[]
     } => x.oneOf !== undefined,
+    ref: (x: JsonSchemaObject): x is JsonSchemaObject & { $ref: string } => x.$ref !== undefined,
   },
 }