diff --git a/addons/web/static/src/js/views/basic/basic_model.js b/addons/web/static/src/js/views/basic/basic_model.js
index 7e42ad6cfca..a4c6d0e8795 100644
--- a/addons/web/static/src/js/views/basic/basic_model.js
+++ b/addons/web/static/src/js/views/basic/basic_model.js
@@ -818,6 +818,16 @@ var BasicModel = AbstractModel.extend({
                         defs.push(self._fetchNameGet(dataPoint));
                     }
                 }
+            } else if (field.type === 'reference' && field.value) {
+                const ref = field.value.split(',');
+                dataPoint = self._makeDataPoint({
+                    context: record.context,
+                    data: { id: parseInt(ref[1], 10) },
+                    modelName: ref[0],
+                    parentID: record.id,
+                });
+                defs.push(self._fetchNameGet(dataPoint));
+                record.data[field.name] = dataPoint.id;
             } else if (field.type === 'one2many' || field.type === 'many2many') {
                 var relatedFieldsInfo = {};
                 relatedFieldsInfo.default = {};
diff --git a/addons/web/static/tests/views/basic_model_tests.js b/addons/web/static/tests/views/basic_model_tests.js
index 7a20552968e..326c8550bb5 100644
--- a/addons/web/static/tests/views/basic_model_tests.js
+++ b/addons/web/static/tests/views/basic_model_tests.js
@@ -1884,6 +1884,33 @@ odoo.define('web.basic_model_tests', function (require) {
             model.destroy();
         });
 
+        QUnit.test('call makeRecord with a reference field', async function (assert) {
+            assert.expect(2);
+            let rpcCount = 0;
+
+            const model = createModel({
+                Model: BasicModel,
+                data: this.data,
+                mockRPC: function (route, args) {
+                    rpcCount++;
+                    return this._super(route, args);
+                },
+            });
+
+            const field = this.data.partner.fields.reference;
+            const recordID = await model.makeRecord('coucou', [{
+                name: 'reference',
+                type: 'reference',
+                selection: field.selection,
+                value: 'product,37',
+            }]);
+            const record = model.get(recordID);
+            assert.deepEqual(record.data.reference.data, { id: 37, display_name: 'xphone' });
+            assert.strictEqual(rpcCount, 1);
+
+            model.destroy();
+        });
+
         QUnit.test('check id, active_id, active_ids, active_model values in record\'s context', async function (assert) {
             assert.expect(2);