diff --git a/library/src/meta/reference.rs b/library/src/meta/reference.rs
index 13d7b8ec1..4e1cfa7fd 100644
--- a/library/src/meta/reference.rs
+++ b/library/src/meta/reference.rs
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ impl Show for RefElem {
                 bail!(self.span(), "label occurs in the document and its bibliography");
             }
 
-            return Ok(self.to_citation(vt, styles)?.pack());
+            return Ok(self.to_citation(vt, styles)?.pack().spanned(self.span()));
         }
 
         let elem = elem.at(self.span())?;