diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 01258f0..39877bb 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -184,9 +184,18 @@ var processRef = function (property, objectName, props, key, required) {
   var refRegExp = /^#\/definitions\/(\w*)$/;
   var refString = property['$ref'] ? property['$ref'] : property['items']['$ref'];
   var propType = refString.match(refRegExp)[1];
+  // NOT circular reference
   if (propType !== objectName) {
-    // NOT circular reference
-    props[key] = [getSchema(propType, definitions[propType]['properties'] ? definitions[propType]['properties'] : definitions[propType])];
+    var object = definitions[propType];
+    if (~['array', 'object'].indexOf(object.type)) {
+      var schema = getSchema(propType, object['properties'] ? object['properties'] : object);
+      props[key] = property['items'] || object.type === 'array' ? [schema] : schema;
+    } else {
+      var clone = _.extend({}, object);
+      delete clone[getMongooseProperty()];
+      var schemaProp = getSchemaProperty(clone, key)[key];
+      props[key] = property['items'] ? [schemaProp] : schemaProp;
+    }
   } else {
     // circular reference
     if (propType) {
@@ -200,8 +209,6 @@ var processRef = function (property, objectName, props, key, required) {
 };
 
 var getSchema = function (objectName, fullObject) {
-
-
   var props = {};
   var required = fullObject.required || [];
   var object = fullObject['properties'] ? fullObject['properties'] : fullObject;
@@ -298,7 +305,7 @@ module.exports.compile = function (spec, _extraDefinitions) {
 
   var schemas = {};
   _.forEach(definitions, function (definition, key) {
-    var object = null;
+    var object;
     var options = xSwaggerMongoose.schemaOptions;
     var excludedSchema = xSwaggerMongoose.excludeSchema;
     var documentIndex = xSwaggerMongoose.documentIndex[key];