diff --git a/.changeset/purple-impalas-listen.md b/.changeset/purple-impalas-listen.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b2cc2f4a14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/purple-impalas-listen.md
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+'@backstage/catalog-model': minor
+---
+
+**BREAKING**: Simplified the `parseEntityRef` function to _always_ either return
+a complete `EntityName`, complete with both kind, namespace and name, or throw
+an error if it for some reason did not have enough information to form that
+result. This makes its usage and its type declaration vastly simpler.
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/api-report.md b/packages/catalog-model/api-report.md
index a6264ab30d..210d0187e2 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/api-report.md
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/api-report.md
@@ -417,47 +417,11 @@ export function parseEntityRef(
         name: string;
       },
   context?: {
-    defaultKind: string;
-    defaultNamespace: string;
+    defaultKind?: string;
+    defaultNamespace?: string;
   },
 ): EntityName;
 
-// @public
-export function parseEntityRef(
-  ref:
-    | string
-    | {
-        kind?: string;
-        namespace?: string;
-        name: string;
-      },
-  context?: {
-    defaultKind: string;
-  },
-): {
-  kind: string;
-  namespace?: string;
-  name: string;
-};
-
-// @public
-export function parseEntityRef(
-  ref:
-    | string
-    | {
-        kind?: string;
-        namespace?: string;
-        name: string;
-      },
-  context?: {
-    defaultNamespace: string;
-  },
-): {
-  kind?: string;
-  namespace: string;
-  name: string;
-};
-
 // @public
 export function parseLocationRef(ref: string): {
   type: string;
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.test.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.test.ts
index ba0402cb71..b0c7068fae 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.test.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.test.ts
@@ -187,21 +187,11 @@ describe('ref', () => {
         namespace: 'b',
         name: 'c',
       });
-      expect(parseEntityRef('b/c')).toEqual({
-        kind: undefined,
-        namespace: 'b',
-        name: 'c',
-      });
       expect(parseEntityRef('a:c')).toEqual({
         kind: 'a',
         namespace: 'default',
         name: 'c',
       });
-      expect(parseEntityRef('c')).toEqual({
-        kind: undefined,
-        namespace: 'default',
-        name: 'c',
-      });
     });
 
     it('rejects bad inputs', () => {
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.ts
index 3c77998eb8..66974f5a01 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/entity/ref.ts
@@ -121,81 +121,51 @@ export function parseEntityName(
  */
 export function parseEntityRef(
   ref: string | { kind?: string; namespace?: string; name: string },
-  context?: { defaultKind: string; defaultNamespace: string },
-): EntityName;
-/**
- * parseEntityRef with optional Kind.
- *
- * @public
- */
-export function parseEntityRef(
-  ref: string | { kind?: string; namespace?: string; name: string },
-  context?: { defaultKind: string },
-): {
-  kind: string;
-  namespace?: string;
-  name: string;
-};
-/**
- * parseEntityRef with optional Namespace.
- *
- * @public
- */
-export function parseEntityRef(
-  ref: string | { kind?: string; namespace?: string; name: string },
-  context?: { defaultNamespace: string },
-): {
-  kind?: string;
-  namespace: string;
-  name: string;
-};
-/**
- * parseEntityRef with optional Kind and Namespace.
- *
- * @public
- */
-export function parseEntityRef(
-  ref: string | { kind?: string; namespace?: string; name: string },
-  context: {
+  context?: {
     /** The default kind, if none is given in the reference */
     defaultKind?: string;
     /** The default namespace, if none is given in the reference */
     defaultNamespace?: string;
-  } = {},
-): {
-  kind?: string;
-  namespace?: string;
-  name: string;
-} {
+  },
+): EntityName {
   if (!ref) {
     throw new Error(`Entity reference must not be empty`);
   }
 
-  const defaultNamespace = context.defaultNamespace || DEFAULT_NAMESPACE;
+  const defaultKind = context?.defaultKind;
+  const defaultNamespace = context?.defaultNamespace || DEFAULT_NAMESPACE;
+
+  let kind: string | undefined;
+  let namespace: string | undefined;
+  let name: string | undefined;
 
   if (typeof ref === 'string') {
     const parsed = parseRefString(ref);
-    return {
-      kind: parsed.kind ?? context.defaultKind,
-      namespace: parsed.namespace ?? defaultNamespace,
-      name: parsed.name,
-    };
+    kind = parsed.kind ?? defaultKind;
+    namespace = parsed.namespace ?? defaultNamespace;
+    name = parsed.name;
+  } else {
+    kind = ref.kind ?? defaultKind;
+    namespace = ref.namespace ?? defaultNamespace;
+    name = ref.name;
   }
 
-  const { kind, namespace, name } = ref;
-  if (kind === '') {
-    throw new Error('Entity reference kinds must not be empty');
-  } else if (namespace === '') {
-    throw new Error('Entity reference namespaces must not be empty');
+  if (!kind) {
+    const textual = JSON.stringify(ref);
+    throw new Error(
+      `Entity reference ${textual} had missing or empty kind (e.g. did not start with "component:" or similar)`,
+    );
+  } else if (!namespace) {
+    const textual = JSON.stringify(ref);
+    throw new Error(
+      `Entity reference ${textual} had missing or empty namespace`,
+    );
   } else if (!name) {
-    throw new Error('Entity references must contain a name');
+    const textual = JSON.stringify(ref);
+    throw new Error(`Entity reference ${textual} had missing or empty name`);
   }
 
-  return {
-    kind: kind ?? context.defaultKind,
-    namespace: namespace ?? defaultNamespace,
-    name,
-  };
+  return { kind, namespace, name };
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/BuiltinKindsEntityProcessor.test.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/BuiltinKindsEntityProcessor.test.ts
index 1b7739a772..2532293acf 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/BuiltinKindsEntityProcessor.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/BuiltinKindsEntityProcessor.test.ts
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ describe('BuiltinKindsEntityProcessor', () => {
       await expect(
         processor.postProcessEntity(entity, location, emit),
       ).rejects.toThrowError(
-        'Entity reference "r" did not specify a kind (e.g. starting with "Component:"), and has no default',
+        'Entity reference "r" had missing or empty kind (e.g. did not start with "component:" or similar)',
       );
     });
 
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ describe('BuiltinKindsEntityProcessor', () => {
       await expect(
         processor.postProcessEntity(entity, location, emit),
       ).rejects.toThrowError(
-        'Entity reference "c" did not specify a kind (e.g. starting with "Component:"), and has no default',
+        'Entity reference "c" had missing or empty kind (e.g. did not start with "component:" or similar)',
       );
     });
 
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/BuiltinKindsEntityProcessor.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/BuiltinKindsEntityProcessor.ts
index 75a1241b8f..89b0bb1bb5 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/BuiltinKindsEntityProcessor.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/BuiltinKindsEntityProcessor.ts
@@ -106,11 +106,6 @@ export class BuiltinKindsEntityProcessor implements CatalogProcessor {
       }
       for (const target of [targets].flat()) {
         const targetRef = parseEntityRef(target, context);
-        if (targetRef.kind === undefined) {
-          throw new Error(
-            `Entity reference "${target}" did not specify a kind (e.g. starting with "Component:"), and has no default`,
-          );
-        }
         emit(
           result.relation({
             source: selfRef,