diff --git a/src/Model/SchemaDefinition/JsonSchema.php b/src/Model/SchemaDefinition/JsonSchema.php
index facbcccb..df0cf223 100644
--- a/src/Model/SchemaDefinition/JsonSchema.php
+++ b/src/Model/SchemaDefinition/JsonSchema.php
@@ -46,6 +46,22 @@ class JsonSchema
      */
     public function __construct(string $file, array $json)
     {
+        // wrap in an allOf to pass the processing to multiple handlers - ugly hack to be removed after rework
+        if (isset($json['$ref']) && count(array_diff(array_intersect(array_keys($json), self::SCHEMA_SIGNATURE_RELEVANT_FIELDS), ['$ref', 'type']))) {
+            $json = array_merge(
+                array_diff_key($json, array_fill_keys(self::SCHEMA_SIGNATURE_RELEVANT_FIELDS, null)),
+                [
+                    'allOf' => [
+                        ['$ref' => $json['$ref']],
+                        array_intersect_key(
+                            $json,
+                            array_fill_keys(array_diff(self::SCHEMA_SIGNATURE_RELEVANT_FIELDS, ['$ref']), null),
+                        ),
+                    ],
+                ],
+            );
+        }
+
         $this->json = $json;
         $this->file = $file;
     }
diff --git a/tests/Issues/Issue/Issue79Test.php b/tests/Issues/Issue/Issue79Test.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..37173416
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Issues/Issue/Issue79Test.php
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace PHPModelGenerator\Tests\Issues\Issue;
+
+use PHPModelGenerator\Exception\ErrorRegistryException;
+use PHPModelGenerator\Model\GeneratorConfiguration;
+use PHPModelGenerator\Tests\Issues\AbstractIssueTest;
+
+class Issue79Test extends AbstractIssueTest
+{
+    public function testCombinedReferenceAndObjectDefinition(): void
+    {
+        $className = $this->generateClassFromFile('person.json');
+
+        $object = new $className(['name' => 'Hans', 'street' => 'A28']);
+
+        $this->assertSame('Hans', $object->getName());
+        $this->assertSame('A28', $object->getStreet());
+        $this->assertNull($object->getAge());
+        $this->assertNull($object->getZip());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider invalidInputDataProvider
+     */
+    public function testCombinedReferenceAndObjectDefinitionWithInvalidDataThrowsAnException(array $data): void
+    {
+        $className = $this->generateClassFromFile(
+            'person.json',
+            (new GeneratorConfiguration())->setCollectErrors(true),
+        );
+
+        $this->expectException(ErrorRegistryException::class);
+
+        new $className(['name' => 23, 'age' => 'A28']);
+    }
+
+    public static function invalidInputDataProvider(): array
+    {
+        return [
+            'empty input'       => [[]],
+            'empty reference'   => [['name' => 'Hans']],
+            'empty object'      => [['street' => 'A28']],
+            'invalid reference' => [['name' => 'Hans', 'street' => 'A28', 'zip' => 'ABC']],
+            'invalid object'    => [['name' => 'Hans', 'street' => 'A28', 'age' => 'ABC']],
+        ];
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Schema/Issues/79/person.json b/tests/Schema/Issues/79/person.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f01eb4cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Schema/Issues/79/person.json
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+{
+  "definitions": {
+    "location": {
+      "type": "object",
+      "properties": {
+        "street": {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        "zip": {
+          "type": "integer"
+        }
+      },
+      "required": [
+        "street"
+      ]
+    }
+  },
+  "$id": "Person",
+  "type": "object",
+  "properties": {
+    "name": {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "age": {
+      "type": "integer"
+    }
+  },
+  "$ref": "#/definitions/location",
+  "required": [
+    "name"
+  ]
+}
\ No newline at end of file