diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/index.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/index.ts
index 12ec19667b..a6e90e6975 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/index.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/index.ts
@@ -17,8 +17,7 @@
 export { entityMetaGeneratedFields } from './Entity';
 export type { Entity, EntityMeta } from './Entity';
 export * from './policies';
-export { parseEntityName, parseEntityRef, serializeEntityRef } from './ref';
-export type { EntityRefContext } from './ref';
+export { parseEntityName, serializeEntityRef } from './ref';
 export {
   entityHasChanges,
   generateEntityEtag,
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.test.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.test.ts
index 8a8b7d3f86..b76f01f1f9 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.test.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.test.ts
@@ -68,33 +68,40 @@ describe('ref', () => {
       expect(() =>
         parseEntityName({ kind: '', namespace: 'b', name: 'c' }),
       ).toThrow();
+      expect(() => parseEntityName({ namespace: 'b', name: 'c' })).toThrow();
       expect(() =>
         parseEntityName({ kind: 'a', namespace: '', name: 'c' }),
       ).toThrow();
+      expect(() => parseEntityName({ kind: 'a', name: 'c' })).not.toThrow();
       expect(() =>
         parseEntityName({ kind: 'a', namespace: 'b', name: '' }),
       ).toThrow();
+      expect(() =>
+        parseEntityName({ kind: 'a', namespace: 'b' } as any),
+      ).toThrow();
       // two are empty
       expect(() =>
         parseEntityName({ kind: '', namespace: '', name: 'c' }),
       ).toThrow();
+      expect(() => parseEntityName({ name: 'c' })).toThrow();
       expect(() =>
         parseEntityName({ kind: '', namespace: 'b', name: '' }),
       ).toThrow();
+      expect(() => parseEntityName({ namespace: 'b' } as any)).toThrow();
       expect(() =>
         parseEntityName({ kind: 'a', namespace: '', name: '' }),
       ).toThrow();
+      expect(() => parseEntityName({ kind: 'a' } as any)).toThrow();
       // three are empty
       expect(() =>
         parseEntityName({ kind: '', namespace: '', name: '' }),
       ).toThrow();
+      expect(() => parseEntityName({} as any)).toThrow();
       // one is left out, one empty
       expect(() => parseEntityName({ namespace: '', name: 'c' })).toThrow();
       expect(() => parseEntityName({ namespace: 'b', name: '' })).toThrow();
       expect(() => parseEntityName({ kind: '', name: 'c' })).toThrow();
       expect(() => parseEntityName({ kind: 'a', name: '' })).toThrow();
-      // nothing at all
-      expect(() => parseEntityName({} as any)).toThrow();
     });
 
     it('adds defaults where necessary to strings', () => {
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.ts
index 1a579eeb7e..b9320a5ac7 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.ts
@@ -14,12 +14,12 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { CompoundEntityRef, EntityName, EntityRef } from '../types';
+import { EntityName, EntityRef } from '../types';
 
 /**
  * The context of defaults that entity reference parsing happens within.
  */
-export type EntityRefContext = {
+type EntityRefContext = {
   /** The default kind, if none is given in the reference */
   defaultKind?: string;
   /** The default namespace, if none is given in the reference */
@@ -53,19 +53,7 @@ export function parseEntityName(
     );
   }
 
-  // This is a corner case - when the ref contained a namespace but it was the
-  // empty string (so the default did not kick in)
-  if (!namespace) {
-    throw new Error(
-      `Entity reference ${kind}:${name} did not contain a namespace`,
-    );
-  }
-
-  return {
-    kind,
-    namespace: namespace!,
-    name,
-  };
+  return { kind, namespace, name };
 }
 
 /**
@@ -79,16 +67,44 @@ export function parseEntityName(
  * @param context The context of defaults that the parsing happens within
  * @returns The compound form of the reference
  */
+export function parseEntityRef(
+  ref: EntityRef,
+  context?: { defaultKind: string },
+): {
+  kind: string;
+  namespace?: string;
+  name: string;
+};
+export function parseEntityRef(
+  ref: EntityRef,
+  context?: { defaultNamespace: string },
+): {
+  kind?: string;
+  namespace: string;
+  name: string;
+};
+export function parseEntityRef(
+  ref: EntityRef,
+  context?: { defaultKind: string; defaultNamespace: string },
+): {
+  kind: string;
+  namespace: string;
+  name: string;
+};
 export function parseEntityRef(
   ref: EntityRef,
   context: EntityRefContext = {},
-): CompoundEntityRef {
+): {
+  kind?: string;
+  namespace?: string;
+  name: string;
+} {
   if (!ref) {
     throw new Error(`Entity reference must not be empty`);
   }
 
   if (typeof ref === 'string') {
-    const match = /^(?:([^:/]+):)?(?:([^:/]+)\/)?([^:/]+)$/.exec(ref.trim());
+    const match = /^([^:/]+:)?([^:/]+\/)?([^:/]+)$/.exec(ref.trim());
     if (!match) {
       throw new Error(
         `Entity reference "${ref}" was not on the form [<kind>:][<namespace>/]<name>`,
@@ -96,8 +112,8 @@ export function parseEntityRef(
     }
 
     return {
-      kind: match[1] ?? context.defaultKind,
-      namespace: match[2] ?? context.defaultNamespace,
+      kind: match[1]?.slice(0, -1) ?? context.defaultKind,
+      namespace: match[2]?.slice(0, -1) ?? context.defaultNamespace,
       name: match[3],
     };
   }
@@ -127,9 +143,11 @@ export function parseEntityRef(
  * @param ref The reference to serialize
  * @returns The same reference on either string or compound form
  */
-export function serializeEntityRef(
-  ref: CompoundEntityRef | EntityName,
-): EntityRef {
+export function serializeEntityRef(ref: {
+  kind?: string;
+  namespace?: string;
+  name: string;
+}): EntityRef {
   const { kind, namespace, name } = ref;
   if (
     kind?.includes(':') ||
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/index.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/index.ts
index 16e7e3477b..f93a4001a5 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/index.ts
@@ -18,11 +18,5 @@ export * from './entity';
 export { EntityPolicies } from './EntityPolicies';
 export * from './kinds';
 export * from './location';
-export type {
-  CompoundEntityRef,
-  EntityName,
-  EntityPolicy,
-  EntityRef,
-  JSONSchema,
-} from './types';
+export type { EntityName, EntityPolicy, EntityRef, JSONSchema } from './types';
 export * from './validation';
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/types.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/types.ts
index 1e0a778827..3aafdc241a 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/types.ts
@@ -45,20 +45,18 @@ export type EntityName = {
 };
 
 /**
- * A reference by name to an entity, where the kind and/or the namespace can be
- * left out.
+ * A reference by name to an entity, either as a compact string representation,
+ * or as a compound reference structure.
+ *
+ * The string representation is on the form [<kind>:][<namespace>/]<name>.
  *
  * Left-out parts of the reference need to be handled by the application,
  * either by rejecting the reference or by falling back to default values.
  */
-export type CompoundEntityRef = {
-  kind?: string;
-  namespace?: string;
-  name: string;
-};
-
-/**
- * A reference by name to an entity, either as a compact string representation,
- * or as a compound reference structure.
- */
-export type EntityRef = string | CompoundEntityRef;
+export type EntityRef =
+  | string
+  | {
+      kind?: string;
+      namespace?: string;
+      name: string;
+    };