diff --git a/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/TestSpanReferenceQueryJSON.java b/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/TestSpanReferenceQueryJSON.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8a21b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/TestSpanReferenceQueryJSON.java
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+package de.ids_mannheim.korap.query;
+
+import static de.ids_mannheim.korap.TestSimple.getJSONQuery;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.lucene.search.spans.SpanQuery;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import de.ids_mannheim.korap.query.wrap.SpanQueryWrapper;
+import de.ids_mannheim.korap.util.QueryException;
+
+public class TestSpanReferenceQueryJSON {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testFirstOperandRef() throws IOException, QueryException {
+
+        String filepath = getClass().getResource(
+                "/queries/reference/first-operand-reference.jsonld").getFile();
+        SpanQueryWrapper sqwi = getJSONQuery(filepath);
+        SpanQuery sq = sqwi.toQuery();
+
+        // 'cat="V" & cat="NP" & cat="PP" & #2 . #1 & #1 ->dep #3 &
+        // #3 . #2
+        assertEquals(
+                "spanReference(spanNext({3: tokens:p:P}, focus(2: focus(#[1,2]spanSegment(focus(#2: "
+                        + "spanSegment(spanRelation(tokens:>:mate/d:HEAD), focus(1: spanNext("
+                        + "{2: tokens:p:V}, {1: <tokens:c:NP />})))), {3: tokens:p:P})))), 3)",
+                sq.toString());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSecondOperandRef() throws QueryException {
+
+        String filepath = getClass().getResource(
+                "/queries/reference/second-operand-reference.jsonld").getFile();
+        SpanQueryWrapper sqwi = getJSONQuery(filepath);
+        SpanQuery sq = sqwi.toQuery();
+
+        // 'cat="V" & cat="NP" & cat="PP" & #2 . #1 & #1 ->dep #3 &
+        // #2 . #3
+        assertEquals(
+                "spanReference(spanNext(focus(2: focus(#[1,2]spanSegment(focus(#2: "
+                        + "spanSegment(spanRelation(tokens:>:mate/d:HEAD), focus(1: spanNext("
+                        + "{2: tokens:p:V}, {1: <tokens:c:NP />})))), {3: tokens:p:P}))), "
+                        + "{3: tokens:p:P}), 3)", sq.toString());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testMultipleReferences() throws QueryException {
+        String filepath = getClass().getResource(
+                "/queries/reference/multiple-references.jsonld").getFile();
+        SpanQueryWrapper sqwi = getJSONQuery(filepath);
+        SpanQuery sq = sqwi.toQuery();
+
+        // 'cat="VP" & cat="NP" & cat="PP" & #1 . #2 & #2 . #3 & #1 .
+        // #3 & #2 ->dep #1'
+        assertEquals(
+                "spanReference(focus(#[1,2]spanSegment(focus(#2: spanSegment(spanRelation(tokens:>:mate/d:HEAD), "
+                        + "focus(2: spanReference(spanNext(focus(1: spanNext(focus(2: spanNext({1: <tokens:c:VP />}, "
+                        + "{2: <tokens:c:NP />})), {3: <tokens:c:PP />})), {3: <tokens:c:PP />}), 3)))), "
+                        + "{1: <tokens:c:VP />})), 1)",
+                sq.toString());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testDistanceReferences() throws QueryException {
+        String filepath = getClass().getResource(
+        // "/queries/reference/distance-reference.jsonld").getFile();
+                "/queries/reference/bug-multiple-distance.jsonld").getFile();
+        SpanQueryWrapper sqwi = getJSONQuery(filepath);
+        SpanQuery sq = sqwi.toQuery();
+
+        // 'cat="VP" & cat="NP" & cat="PP" & #1 . #2 & #2 . #3 & #1 .
+        // #3 & #2 ->dep #1'
+        assertEquals(
+                "spanReference(focus(#[1,2]spanSegment(focus(#2: spanSegment(spanRelation(tokens:>:stanford/d:tag), "
+                        + "focus(2: spanDistance(focus(1: spanDistance(<tokens:c:vb />, {1: <tokens:c:prp />}, "
+                        + "[(w[1:1], notOrdered, notExcluded)])), {2: <tokens:c:nn />}, [(w[0:2], ordered, notExcluded)])))), "
+                        + "{1: <tokens:c:prp />})), 1)",
+                sq.toString());
+    }
+}