diff --git a/dtc-lexer.l b/dtc-lexer.l
index eec6527..109661d 100644
--- a/dtc-lexer.l
+++ b/dtc-lexer.l
@@ -25,12 +25,12 @@
 %x PROPNODENAME
 %s V1
 
-PROPCHAR	[a-zA-Z0-9,._+*#?-]
-UNITCHAR	[0-9a-f,]
+PROPNODECHAR	[a-zA-Z0-9,._+*#?@-]
+PATHCHAR	({PROPNODECHAR}|[/])
+LEGACYPATHCHAR	[a-zA-Z0-9_@/]
+LABEL		[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*
 WS		[[:space:]]
 
-REFCHAR		({PROPCHAR}|{UNITCHAR}|[/@])
-
 %{
 #include "dtc.h"
 #include "srcpos.h"
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ static int dts_version; /* = 0 */
 			return DT_MEMRESERVE;
 		}
 
-<*>[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*:	{
+<*>{LABEL}:	{
 			yylloc.filenum = srcpos_filenum;
 			yylloc.first_line = yylineno;
 			DPRINT("Label: %s\n", yytext);
@@ -142,7 +142,24 @@ static int dts_version; /* = 0 */
 			return DT_LITERAL;
 		}
 
-\&{REFCHAR}*	{
+\&{LABEL}	{	/* label reference */
+			yylloc.filenum = srcpos_filenum;
+			yylloc.first_line = yylineno;
+			DPRINT("Ref: %s\n", yytext+1);
+			yylval.labelref = strdup(yytext+1);
+			return DT_REF;
+		}
+
+"&{/"{PATHCHAR}+\}	{	/* new-style path reference */
+			yylloc.filenum = srcpos_filenum;
+			yylloc.first_line = yylineno;
+			yytext[yyleng-1] = '\0';
+			DPRINT("Ref: %s\n", yytext+2);
+			yylval.labelref = strdup(yytext+2);
+			return DT_REF;
+		}
+
+<INITIAL>"&/"{LEGACYPATHCHAR}+ {	/* old-style path reference */
 			yylloc.filenum = srcpos_filenum;
 			yylloc.first_line = yylineno;
 			DPRINT("Ref: %s\n", yytext+1);
@@ -166,7 +183,7 @@ static int dts_version; /* = 0 */
 			return ']';
 		}
 
-<PROPNODENAME>{PROPCHAR}+(@{UNITCHAR}+)? {
+<PROPNODENAME>{PROPNODECHAR}+ {
 			yylloc.filenum = srcpos_filenum;
 			yylloc.first_line = yylineno;
 			DPRINT("PropNodeName: %s\n", yytext);
diff --git a/tests/nonexist-node-ref.dts b/tests/nonexist-node-ref.dts
index fa35891..efd4140 100644
--- a/tests/nonexist-node-ref.dts
+++ b/tests/nonexist-node-ref.dts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 /dts-v1/;
 
 / {
-	ref = < &/node >;
-	badref = < &/nosuchnode >;
+	ref = < &{/node} >;
+	badref = < &{/nosuchnode} >;
 	label: node {
 	};
 };
diff --git a/tests/references.dts b/tests/references.dts
index fc032f8..36b6f51 100644
--- a/tests/references.dts
+++ b/tests/references.dts
@@ -4,18 +4,18 @@
 	/* Explicit phandles */
 	n1: node1 {
 		linux,phandle = <0x2000>;
-		ref = <&/node2>; /* reference precedes target */
+		ref = <&{/node2}>; /* reference precedes target */
 		lref = <&n2>;
 	};
 	n2: node2 {
 		linux,phandle = <0x1>;
-		ref = <&/node1>; /* reference after target */
+		ref = <&{/node1}>; /* reference after target */
 		lref = <&n1>;
 	};
 
 	/* Implicit phandles */
 	n3: node3 {
-		ref = <&/node4>;
+		ref = <&{/node4}>;
 		lref = <&n4>;
 	};
 	n4: node4 {
diff --git a/tests/references_dts0.dts b/tests/references_dts0.dts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df82c23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/references_dts0.dts
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/ {
+	/* Explicit phandles */
+	n1: node1 {
+		linux,phandle = <2000>;
+		ref = <&/node2>; /* reference precedes target */
+		lref = <&n2>;
+	};
+	n2: node2 {
+		linux,phandle = <1>;
+		ref = <&/node1>; /* reference after target */
+		lref = <&n1>;
+	};
+
+	/* Implicit phandles */
+	n3: node3 {
+		ref = <&/node4>;
+		lref = <&n4>;
+	};
+	n4: node4 {
+	};
+};
diff --git a/tests/run_tests.sh b/tests/run_tests.sh
index a8f6e10..d8bedca 100755
--- a/tests/run_tests.sh
+++ b/tests/run_tests.sh
@@ -144,6 +144,9 @@ dtc_tests () {
     run_test dtc.sh -I dts -O dtb -o dtc_references.test.dtb references.dts
     run_test references dtc_references.test.dtb
 
+    run_test dtc.sh -I dts -O dtb -o dtc_references_dts0.test.dtb references_dts0.dts
+    run_test references dtc_references_dts0.test.dtb
+
     # Check -Odts mode preserve all dtb information
     for tree in test_tree1.dtb dtc_tree1.test.dtb dtc_escapes.test.dtb ; do
 	run_test dtc.sh -I dtb -O dts -o odts_$tree.test.dts $tree