diff --git a/src/main/java/org/alliancegenome/curation_api/services/validation/GenomicEntityValidator.java b/src/main/java/org/alliancegenome/curation_api/services/validation/GenomicEntityValidator.java
index 676b39a83..06a664da7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/alliancegenome/curation_api/services/validation/GenomicEntityValidator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/alliancegenome/curation_api/services/validation/GenomicEntityValidator.java
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ public List<CrossReference> validateCrossReferences(E uiEntity, E dbEntity) {
 					allValid = false;
 					response.addErrorMessages(field, ix, xrefResponse.getErrorMessages());
 				} else {
-					validatedXrefs.add(xref);
+					validatedXrefs.add(xrefResponse.getEntity());
 				}
 			}
 		}