diff --git a/janet/validate.janet b/janet/validate.janet
index 4c4c1be..a9cddc1 100644
--- a/janet/validate.janet
+++ b/janet/validate.janet
@@ -615,6 +615,7 @@ Imports are for a later iteration of Ludus:
    :use (usee validator)
    :loop (loopp validator)
    :recur (recur validator)
+   :ref (ref validator)
    (error (string "unknown node type " type)))))
 
 (set validate validate*)