diff --git a/packages/core-api/src/app/App.tsx b/packages/core-api/src/app/App.tsx
index 9ab19b5588..11635368fb 100644
--- a/packages/core-api/src/app/App.tsx
+++ b/packages/core-api/src/app/App.tsx
@@ -50,14 +50,13 @@ import {
 } from '../extensions/traversal';
 import { IconComponent, IconComponentMap, IconKey } from '../icons';
 import { BackstagePlugin } from '../plugin';
-import { RouteRef } from '../routing';
+import { RouteRef, ExternalRouteRef } from '../routing';
 import {
   routeObjectCollector,
   routeParentCollector,
   routePathCollector,
 } from '../routing/collectors';
 import { RoutingProvider, validateRoutes } from '../routing/hooks';
-import { ExternalRouteRef } from '../routing/RouteRef';
 import { AppContextProvider } from './AppContext';
 import { AppIdentity } from './AppIdentity';
 import { AppThemeProvider } from './AppThemeProvider';
diff --git a/packages/core-api/src/plugin/types.ts b/packages/core-api/src/plugin/types.ts
index 711246f1f4..c3b64d8cb6 100644
--- a/packages/core-api/src/plugin/types.ts
+++ b/packages/core-api/src/plugin/types.ts
@@ -15,9 +15,8 @@
  */
 
 import { ComponentType } from 'react';
-import { RouteRef } from '../routing';
+import { RouteRef, ExternalRouteRef } from '../routing';
 import { AnyApiFactory } from '../apis/system';
-import { ExternalRouteRef } from '../routing/RouteRef';
 
 export type RouteOptions = {
   // Whether the route path must match exactly, defaults to true.
diff --git a/packages/core-api/src/routing/RouteRef.ts b/packages/core-api/src/routing/RouteRef.ts
index 67ff9bc1fb..879a9c99f8 100644
--- a/packages/core-api/src/routing/RouteRef.ts
+++ b/packages/core-api/src/routing/RouteRef.ts
@@ -14,19 +14,31 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { RouteRef } from './types';
+import { RouteRef, ExternalRouteRef, routeRefType } from './types';
 import { IconComponent } from '../icons';
 
+// TODO(Rugvip): Remove this once we get rid of the deprecated fields, it's not exported
 export type RouteRefConfig<Params extends { [param in string]: string }> = {
   params?: Array<keyof Params>;
-  /** @deprecated Route refs no longer decide their own path */
   path?: string;
   icon?: IconComponent;
   title: string;
 };
 
-export class AbsoluteRouteRef<Params extends { [param in string]: string }> {
-  constructor(private readonly config: RouteRefConfig<Params>) {}
+class RouteRefBaseBase {
+  constructor(type: string, id: string) {
+    this.toString = () => `routeRef{type=${type},id=${id}}`;
+  }
+}
+
+export class RouteRefImpl<
+  Params extends { [param in string]: string }
+> extends RouteRefBaseBase {
+  readonly [routeRefType] = 'absolute';
+
+  constructor(private readonly config: RouteRefConfig<Params>) {
+    super('absolute', config.title);
+  }
 
   get icon() {
     return this.config.icon;
@@ -40,10 +52,6 @@ export class AbsoluteRouteRef<Params extends { [param in string]: string }> {
   get title() {
     return this.config.title;
   }
-
-  toString() {
-    return `routeRef{title=${this.title}}`;
-  }
 }
 
 export function createRouteRef<
@@ -58,22 +66,27 @@ export function createRouteRef<
   params?: ParamKey[];
   /** @deprecated Route refs no longer decide their own path */
   path?: string;
+  /** @deprecated Route refs no longer decide their own icon */
   icon?: IconComponent;
+  /** @deprecated Route refs no longer decide their own title */
   title: string;
 }): RouteRef<Params> {
-  return new AbsoluteRouteRef<Params>(config);
+  return new RouteRefImpl<Params>(config);
 }
 
-export class ExternalRouteRef<Optional extends boolean = true> {
-  readonly optional: boolean;
+export class ExternalRouteRefImpl<
+  Optional extends boolean
+> extends RouteRefBaseBase {
+  readonly [routeRefType] = 'external';
 
-  private constructor({ id, optional }: ExternalRouteRefOptions<Optional>) {
-    this.toString = () => `externalRouteRef{${id}}`;
-    this.optional = Boolean(optional);
+  constructor(id: string, readonly optional: Optional) {
+    super('external', id);
   }
 }
 
-export type ExternalRouteRefOptions<Optional extends boolean = false> = {
+export function createExternalRouteRef<
+  Optional extends boolean = false
+>(options: {
   /**
    * An identifier for this route, used to identify it in error messages
    */
@@ -86,14 +99,9 @@ export type ExternalRouteRefOptions<Optional extends boolean = false> = {
    * if they aren't, `useRouteRef` will return `undefined`.
    */
   optional?: Optional;
-};
-
-export function createExternalRouteRef<Optional extends boolean = false>(
-  options: ExternalRouteRefOptions<Optional>,
-): ExternalRouteRef<Optional> {
-  return new ((ExternalRouteRef as unknown) as {
-    new (options: ExternalRouteRefOptions<Optional>): ExternalRouteRef<
-      Optional
-    >;
-  })(options);
+}): ExternalRouteRef<Optional> {
+  return new ExternalRouteRefImpl<Optional>(
+    options.id,
+    Boolean(options.optional) as Optional,
+  );
 }
diff --git a/packages/core-api/src/routing/hooks.test.tsx b/packages/core-api/src/routing/hooks.test.tsx
index 94cd3a704d..cfb7a5c68a 100644
--- a/packages/core-api/src/routing/hooks.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/core-api/src/routing/hooks.test.tsx
@@ -38,10 +38,9 @@ import {
 import {
   createRouteRef,
   createExternalRouteRef,
-  ExternalRouteRef,
   RouteRefConfig,
 } from './RouteRef';
-import { AnyRouteRef, RouteRef } from './types';
+import { AnyRouteRef, RouteRef, ExternalRouteRef } from './types';
 
 const mockConfig = (extra?: Partial<RouteRefConfig<{}>>) => ({
   path: '/unused',
diff --git a/packages/core-api/src/routing/hooks.tsx b/packages/core-api/src/routing/hooks.tsx
index 54490fb4f2..d9bbef438e 100644
--- a/packages/core-api/src/routing/hooks.tsx
+++ b/packages/core-api/src/routing/hooks.tsx
@@ -15,9 +15,13 @@
  */
 
 import React, { createContext, ReactNode, useContext, useMemo } from 'react';
-import { AnyRouteRef, BackstageRouteObject, RouteRef } from './types';
+import {
+  AnyRouteRef,
+  BackstageRouteObject,
+  RouteRef,
+  ExternalRouteRef,
+} from './types';
 import { generatePath, matchRoutes, useLocation } from 'react-router-dom';
-import { ExternalRouteRef } from './RouteRef';
 
 // The extra TS magic here is to require a single params argument if the RouteRef
 // had at least one param defined, but require 0 arguments if there are no params defined.
diff --git a/packages/core-api/src/routing/index.ts b/packages/core-api/src/routing/index.ts
index 100158c3c5..2a0685f583 100644
--- a/packages/core-api/src/routing/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core-api/src/routing/index.ts
@@ -19,12 +19,9 @@ export type {
   AbsoluteRouteRef,
   ConcreteRoute,
   MutableRouteRef,
+  ExternalRouteRef,
 } from './types';
 export { FlatRoutes } from './FlatRoutes';
-export {
-  createRouteRef,
-  createExternalRouteRef,
-  ExternalRouteRef,
-} from './RouteRef';
+export { createRouteRef, createExternalRouteRef } from './RouteRef';
 export type { RouteRefConfig } from './RouteRef';
 export { useRouteRef } from './hooks';
diff --git a/packages/core-api/src/routing/types.ts b/packages/core-api/src/routing/types.ts
index b21fa38052..1b2cea3465 100644
--- a/packages/core-api/src/routing/types.ts
+++ b/packages/core-api/src/routing/types.ts
@@ -15,35 +15,41 @@
  */
 
 import { IconComponent } from '../icons';
-import { ExternalRouteRef } from './RouteRef';
+import { getGlobalSingleton } from '../lib/globalObject';
 
-// @ts-ignore, we're just embedding the Params type for usage in other places
-export type RouteRef<Params extends { [param in string]: string } = {}> = {
-  // TODO(Rugvip): Remove path, look up via registry instead
+export const routeRefType: unique symbol = getGlobalSingleton<any>(
+  'route-ref-type',
+  () => Symbol('route-ref-type'),
+);
+
+export type RouteRef<Params extends { [param in string]: string } = any> = {
+  [routeRefType]: 'absolute';
+
+  params?: keyof Params;
+
+  // TODO(Rugvip): Remove all of these once plugins don't rely on the path
   /** @deprecated paths are no longer accessed directly from RouteRefs, use useRouteRef instead */
   path: string;
+  /** @deprecated icons are no longer accessed via RouteRefs */
   icon?: IconComponent;
-  title: string;
+  /** @deprecated titles are no longer accessed via RouteRefs */
+  title?: string;
+};
+
+export type ExternalRouteRef<Optional extends boolean = any> = {
+  [routeRefType]: 'external';
+
+  optional?: Optional;
 };
 
 export type AnyRouteRef = RouteRef<any> | ExternalRouteRef<any>;
 
-/**
- * This type should not be used
- * @deprecated
- */
+// TODO(Rugvip): None of these should be found in the wild anymore, remove in next minor release
+/** @deprecated */
 export type ConcreteRoute = {};
-
-/**
- * This type should not be used, use RouteRef instead
- * @deprecated
- */
+/** @deprecated */
 export type AbsoluteRouteRef = RouteRef<{}>;
-
-/**
- * This type should not be used, use RouteRef instead
- * @deprecated
- */
+/** @deprecated */
 export type MutableRouteRef = RouteRef<{}>;
 
 // A duplicate of the react-router RouteObject, but with routeRef added