diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 287dd85..ff83892 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ language: clojure
 lein: lein2
 before_script:
   - ./bin/ci/before_script.sh
-script: lein2 ci test
+script: lein2 javac && lein2 all test
 jdk:
   - openjdk6
   - openjdk7
diff --git a/project.clj b/project.clj
index 83f5998..9f4b34e 100644
--- a/project.clj
+++ b/project.clj
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
                    :all           (constantly true)}
   :source-paths      ["src/clojure"]
   :java-source-paths ["src/java"]
+  :javac-options     ["-target" "1.6" "-source" "1.6"]  
   :codox {:exclude [monger.internal.pagination]}
   :mailing-list {:name "clojure-monger"
                  :archive "https://groups.google.com/group/clojure-mongodb"
diff --git a/src/clojure/monger/conversion.clj b/src/clojure/monger/conversion.clj
index a036c31..5faa1da 100644
--- a/src/clojure/monger/conversion.clj
+++ b/src/clojure/monger/conversion.clj
@@ -69,6 +69,10 @@
   DBObject
   (to-db-object [^DBObject input] input)
 
+  com.novemberain.monger.DBRef
+  (to-db-object [^com.novemberain.monger.DBRef dbref]
+    dbref)
+
   Object
   (to-db-object [input]
     input))
@@ -99,6 +103,10 @@
   (from-db-object [^BasicDBList input keywordize]
     (vec (map #(from-db-object % keywordize) input)))
 
+  com.mongodb.DBRef
+  (from-db-object [^com.novemberain.monger.DBRef input keywordize]
+    (com.novemberain.monger.DBRef. input))
+
   DBObject
   (from-db-object [^DBObject input keywordize]
     ;; DBObject provides .toMap, but the implementation in
diff --git a/src/java/com/novemberain/monger/DBRef.java b/src/java/com/novemberain/monger/DBRef.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b7006f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/java/com/novemberain/monger/DBRef.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package com.novemberain.monger;
+
+import clojure.lang.IDeref;
+import com.mongodb.DB;
+import com.mongodb.DBObject;
+import org.bson.BSONObject;
+
+/**
+ * Exactly as com.mongodb.DBRef but also implements Clojure IDefer for @dereferencing
+ */
+public class DBRef extends com.mongodb.DBRef implements IDeref {
+
+  /**
+   * Creates a DBRef
+   * @param db the database
+   * @param o a BSON object representing the reference
+   */
+  public DBRef(DB db, BSONObject o) {
+    super(db , o.get("$ref").toString(), o.get("$id"));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Creates a DBRef
+   * @param db the database
+   * @param ns the namespace where the object is stored
+   * @param id the object id
+   */
+  public DBRef(DB db, String ns, Object id) {
+    super(db, ns, id);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Creates a DBRef from a com.mongodb.DBRef instance.
+   * @param source The original reference MongoDB Java driver uses
+   */
+  public DBRef(com.mongodb.DBRef source) {
+    this(source.getDB(), source.getRef(), source.getId());
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public DBObject deref() {
+    return this.fetch();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/monger/test/inserting_test.clj b/test/monger/test/inserting_test.clj
index f3c6998..1c600a5 100644
--- a/test/monger/test/inserting_test.clj
+++ b/test/monger/test/inserting_test.clj
@@ -95,8 +95,10 @@
         joe   (mc/insert "owners" {:name "Joe" :_id oid})
         dbref (DBRef. (mg/current-db) coll2 oid)]
     (mc/insert coll1 {:type "pentagon" :owner dbref})
-    (let [fetched (mc/find-one-as-map coll1 {:type "pentagon"})]
-      (is (= dbref (:owner fetched))))))
+    (let [fetched (mc/find-one-as-map coll1 {:type "pentagon"})
+          fo      (:owner fetched)]
+      (is (= {:_id oid :name "Joe"} (from-db-object @fo true)))
+      (is (= dbref fo)))))
 
 
 ;;