diff --git a/src/libstore-tests/ref-scan-bench.cc b/src/libstore-tests/ref-scan-bench.cc
index 011d53aec..ff0aa1815 100644
--- a/src/libstore-tests/ref-scan-bench.cc
+++ b/src/libstore-tests/ref-scan-bench.cc
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#include "nix/util/references.hh"
+#include "nix/store/references.hh"
 #include "nix/store/path.hh"
 #include "nix/util/base-nix-32.hh"
 
diff --git a/src/libstore-tests/references.cc b/src/libstore-tests/references.cc
index c7b706c68..27ecad08f 100644
--- a/src/libstore-tests/references.cc
+++ b/src/libstore-tests/references.cc
@@ -1,9 +1,46 @@
-#include "nix/util/references.hh"
+#include "nix/store/references.hh"
 
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 
 namespace nix {
 
+struct RewriteParams
+{
+    std::string originalString, finalString;
+    StringMap rewrites;
+
+    friend std::ostream & operator<<(std::ostream & os, const RewriteParams & bar)
+    {
+        StringSet strRewrites;
+        for (auto & [from, to] : bar.rewrites)
+            strRewrites.insert(from + "->" + to);
+        return os << "OriginalString: " << bar.originalString << std::endl
+                  << "Rewrites: " << dropEmptyInitThenConcatStringsSep(",", strRewrites) << std::endl
+                  << "Expected result: " << bar.finalString;
+    }
+};
+
+class RewriteTest : public ::testing::TestWithParam<RewriteParams>
+{};
+
+TEST_P(RewriteTest, IdentityRewriteIsIdentity)
+{
+    RewriteParams param = GetParam();
+    StringSink rewritten;
+    auto rewriter = RewritingSink(param.rewrites, rewritten);
+    rewriter(param.originalString);
+    rewriter.flush();
+    ASSERT_EQ(rewritten.s, param.finalString);
+}
+
+INSTANTIATE_TEST_CASE_P(
+    references,
+    RewriteTest,
+    ::testing::Values(
+        RewriteParams{"foooo", "baroo", {{"foo", "bar"}, {"bar", "baz"}}},
+        RewriteParams{"foooo", "bazoo", {{"fou", "bar"}, {"foo", "baz"}}},
+        RewriteParams{"foooo", "foooo", {}}));
+
 TEST(references, scan)
 {
     std::string hash1 = "dc04vv14dak1c1r48qa0m23vr9jy8sm0";
diff --git a/src/libstore/include/nix/store/meson.build b/src/libstore/include/nix/store/meson.build
index e883a89e4..e41a7da4d 100644
--- a/src/libstore/include/nix/store/meson.build
+++ b/src/libstore/include/nix/store/meson.build
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ headers = [ config_pub_h ] + files(
   'posix-fs-canonicalise.hh',
   'profiles.hh',
   'realisation.hh',
+  'references.hh',
   'remote-fs-accessor.hh',
   'remote-store-connection.hh',
   'remote-store.hh',
diff --git a/src/libstore/include/nix/store/path-references.hh b/src/libstore/include/nix/store/path-references.hh
index 55535f666..66d0da268 100644
--- a/src/libstore/include/nix/store/path-references.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/include/nix/store/path-references.hh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #pragma once
 ///@file
 
-#include "nix/util/references.hh"
+#include "nix/store/references.hh"
 #include "nix/store/path.hh"
 
 namespace nix {
diff --git a/src/libutil/include/nix/util/references.hh b/src/libstore/include/nix/store/references.hh
similarity index 100%
rename from src/libutil/include/nix/util/references.hh
rename to src/libstore/include/nix/store/references.hh
diff --git a/src/libstore/local-store.cc b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
index d8540be86..685402cfe 100644
--- a/src/libstore/local-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 #include "nix/store/derivations.hh"
 #include "nix/store/realisation.hh"
 #include "nix/store/nar-info.hh"
-#include "nix/util/references.hh"
+#include "nix/store/references.hh"
 #include "nix/util/callback.hh"
 #include "nix/util/topo-sort.hh"
 #include "nix/util/finally.hh"
diff --git a/src/libstore/make-content-addressed.cc b/src/libstore/make-content-addressed.cc
index 831542943..ce4a36849 100644
--- a/src/libstore/make-content-addressed.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/make-content-addressed.cc
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #include "nix/store/make-content-addressed.hh"
-#include "nix/util/references.hh"
+#include "nix/store/references.hh"
 
 namespace nix {
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/meson.build b/src/libstore/meson.build
index 0b6471af3..ad76582d8 100644
--- a/src/libstore/meson.build
+++ b/src/libstore/meson.build
@@ -316,6 +316,7 @@ sources = files(
   'posix-fs-canonicalise.cc',
   'profiles.cc',
   'realisation.cc',
+  'references.cc',
   'remote-fs-accessor.cc',
   'remote-store.cc',
   'restricted-store.cc',
diff --git a/src/libutil/references.cc b/src/libstore/references.cc
similarity index 96%
rename from src/libutil/references.cc
rename to src/libstore/references.cc
index 42076acff..1620af26e 100644
--- a/src/libutil/references.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/references.cc
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-#include "nix/util/references.hh"
+#include "nix/store/references.hh"
+#include "nix/store/path.hh"
 #include "nix/util/hash.hh"
-#include "nix/util/archive.hh"
 #include "nix/util/base-nix-32.hh"
 
 #include <map>
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
-static size_t refLength = 32; /* characters */
+static constexpr auto refLength = StorePath::HashLen;
 
 static void search(std::string_view s, StringSet & hashes, StringSet & seen)
 {
diff --git a/src/libstore/store-api.cc b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
index 3e2a8e553..b678833e6 100644
--- a/src/libstore/store-api.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 #include "nix/util/util.hh"
 #include "nix/store/nar-info-disk-cache.hh"
 #include "nix/util/thread-pool.hh"
-#include "nix/util/references.hh"
 #include "nix/util/archive.hh"
 #include "nix/util/callback.hh"
 #include "nix/util/git.hh"
@@ -18,7 +17,6 @@
 // `addMultipleToStore`.
 #include "nix/store/worker-protocol.hh"
 #include "nix/util/signals.hh"
-#include "nix/util/users.hh"
 
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
diff --git a/src/libutil-tests/meson.build b/src/libutil-tests/meson.build
index 2dbb4d129..e4a060d3e 100644
--- a/src/libutil-tests/meson.build
+++ b/src/libutil-tests/meson.build
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ sources = files(
   'pool.cc',
   'position.cc',
   'processes.cc',
-  'references.cc',
   'sort.cc',
   'spawn.cc',
   'strings.cc',
diff --git a/src/libutil-tests/references.cc b/src/libutil-tests/references.cc
deleted file mode 100644
index b76db67cf..000000000
--- a/src/libutil-tests/references.cc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-#include "nix/util/references.hh"
-#include <gtest/gtest.h>
-
-namespace nix {
-
-using std::string;
-
-struct RewriteParams
-{
-    string originalString, finalString;
-    StringMap rewrites;
-
-    friend std::ostream & operator<<(std::ostream & os, const RewriteParams & bar)
-    {
-        StringSet strRewrites;
-        for (auto & [from, to] : bar.rewrites)
-            strRewrites.insert(from + "->" + to);
-        return os << "OriginalString: " << bar.originalString << std::endl
-                  << "Rewrites: " << dropEmptyInitThenConcatStringsSep(",", strRewrites) << std::endl
-                  << "Expected result: " << bar.finalString;
-    }
-};
-
-class RewriteTest : public ::testing::TestWithParam<RewriteParams>
-{};
-
-TEST_P(RewriteTest, IdentityRewriteIsIdentity)
-{
-    RewriteParams param = GetParam();
-    StringSink rewritten;
-    auto rewriter = RewritingSink(param.rewrites, rewritten);
-    rewriter(param.originalString);
-    rewriter.flush();
-    ASSERT_EQ(rewritten.s, param.finalString);
-}
-
-INSTANTIATE_TEST_CASE_P(
-    references,
-    RewriteTest,
-    ::testing::Values(
-        RewriteParams{"foooo", "baroo", {{"foo", "bar"}, {"bar", "baz"}}},
-        RewriteParams{"foooo", "bazoo", {{"fou", "bar"}, {"foo", "baz"}}},
-        RewriteParams{"foooo", "foooo", {}}));
-
-} // namespace nix
diff --git a/src/libutil/include/nix/util/meson.build b/src/libutil/include/nix/util/meson.build
index bc58b4d5e..bdf114259 100644
--- a/src/libutil/include/nix/util/meson.build
+++ b/src/libutil/include/nix/util/meson.build
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ headers = files(
   'posix-source-accessor.hh',
   'processes.hh',
   'ref.hh',
-  'references.hh',
   'regex-combinators.hh',
   'repair-flag.hh',
   'serialise.hh',
diff --git a/src/libutil/meson.build b/src/libutil/meson.build
index afdddc6b5..ffd1ebd49 100644
--- a/src/libutil/meson.build
+++ b/src/libutil/meson.build
@@ -145,7 +145,6 @@ sources = [ config_priv_h ] + files(
   'pos-table.cc',
   'position.cc',
   'posix-source-accessor.cc',
-  'references.cc',
   'serialise.cc',
   'signature/local-keys.cc',
   'signature/signer.cc',
diff --git a/src/nix/hash.cc b/src/nix/hash.cc
index 9858386c5..d3c9ccb66 100644
--- a/src/nix/hash.cc
+++ b/src/nix/hash.cc
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #include "nix/store/content-address.hh"
 #include "nix/cmd/legacy.hh"
 #include "nix/main/shared.hh"
-#include "nix/util/references.hh"
+#include "nix/store/references.hh"
 #include "nix/util/archive.hh"
 #include "nix/util/git.hh"
 #include "nix/util/posix-source-accessor.hh"