diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index b2b87838..7a1d7de2 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -403,6 +403,11 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@types/tough-cookie/-/tough-cookie-2.3.4.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-Set5ZdrAaKI/qHdFlVMgm/GsAv/wkXhSTuZFkJ+JI7HK+wIkIlOaUXSXieIvJ0+OvGIqtREFoE+NHJtEq0gtEw=="
     },
+    "@types/traverse": {
+      "version": "0.6.32",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@types/traverse/-/traverse-0.6.32.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-RBz2uRZVCXuMg93WD//aTS5B120QlT4lR/gL+935QtGsKHLS6sCtZBaKfWjIfk7ZXv/r8mtGbwjVIee6/3XTow=="
+    },
     "@types/uuid": {
       "version": "3.4.4",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@types/uuid/-/uuid-3.4.4.tgz",
@@ -5227,6 +5232,11 @@
         }
       }
     },
+    "traverse": {
+      "version": "0.6.6",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/traverse/-/traverse-0.6.6.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-y99WD9e5r2MlAv7UD5GMFX6pcTc="
+    },
     "trim-newlines": {
       "version": "2.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/trim-newlines/-/trim-newlines-2.0.0.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 67efb1fb..c74c7528 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -19,11 +19,13 @@
     "@types/cli-progress": "1.8.1",
     "@types/node": "10.14.4",
     "@types/request": "2.48.1",
+    "@types/traverse": "0.6.32",
     "@types/uuid": "3.4.4",
     "cli-progress": "2.1.1",
     "commander": "2.19.0",
     "moment": "2.24.0",
     "request": "2.88.0",
+    "traverse": "0.6.6",
     "uuid": "3.3.2"
   },
   "license": "GPL-3.0-only",
diff --git a/src/connectorClient.ts b/src/connectorClient.ts
index 0acc8475..83e33b62 100644
--- a/src/connectorClient.ts
+++ b/src/connectorClient.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
  */
 import {asyncPool} from '@krlwlfrt/async-pool';
 import {
+  isThing,
+  SCAssociatedThingWithoutReferences,
   SCBulkResponse,
   SCBulkRoute,
   SCLicensePlate,
@@ -68,6 +70,76 @@ export class ConnectorClient extends Client {
     return v5(uid.toString(), SCNamespaces[namespaceId]);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Remove fields from a thing that are references
+   *
+   * This effectively turns a thing into a thing without references, e.g. SCDish into SCDishWithoutReferences.
+   *
+   * @param thing Thing to remove references from
+   */
+  static removeReferences<THING extends SCThings>(thing: THING): SCAssociatedThingWithoutReferences<THING> {
+    const thingWithoutReferences: any = {
+      ...{},
+      ...thing,
+    };
+
+    // iterate over all properties
+    for (const key in thingWithoutReferences) {
+      /* istanbul ignore if  */
+      if (!thingWithoutReferences.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      const property = thingWithoutReferences[key];
+
+      // check if property itself is a thing
+      if (isThing(property)) {
+        // delete said property
+        delete thingWithoutReferences[key];
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      // check if property is an array
+      if (Array.isArray(property)) {
+        if (property.every(isThing)) {
+          // delete property if every item in it is a thing
+          delete thingWithoutReferences[key];
+        } else {
+          // check every item in array
+          for (const item of property) {
+            if (['boolean', 'number', 'string'].indexOf(typeof item) >= 0) {
+              // skip primitives
+              continue;
+            }
+
+            // check every property
+            for (const itemKey in item) {
+              /* istanbul ignore if  */
+              if (!item.hasOwnProperty(itemKey)) {
+                continue;
+              }
+
+              if (isThing(item[itemKey])) {
+                // delete properties that are things
+                delete item[itemKey];
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      } else if (typeof property === 'object') {
+        // iterate over all properties in nested objects
+        for (const nestedKey in property) {
+          if (isThing(property[nestedKey])) {
+            // delete properties that are things
+            delete property[nestedKey];
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    return thingWithoutReferences as SCAssociatedThingWithoutReferences<THING>;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Request a bulk transfer to the backend
    *
diff --git a/test/connectorClient.spec.ts b/test/connectorClient.spec.ts
index 2ff863e8..57dfbb4a 100644
--- a/test/connectorClient.spec.ts
+++ b/test/connectorClient.spec.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@
  * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
  * this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
  */
+import {asyncPool} from '@krlwlfrt/async-pool';
 import {
+  isThing,
   SCBulkAddResponse,
   SCBulkAddRoute,
   SCBulkDoneResponse,
@@ -20,17 +22,22 @@ import {
   SCBulkResponse,
   SCBulkRoute,
   SCMessage,
+  SCThing,
+  SCThingOriginType,
+  SCThingType,
   SCThingUpdateResponse,
   SCThingUpdateRoute,
-  SCThingType,
-  SCThingOriginType,
 } from '@openstapps/core';
 import * as chai from 'chai';
 import {expect} from 'chai';
 import * as chaiAsPromised from 'chai-as-promised';
 import * as chaiSpies from 'chai-spies';
+import {readdir, readFile} from 'fs';
 import {suite, test} from 'mocha-typescript';
 import * as moment from 'moment';
+import {join, resolve} from 'path';
+import * as traverse from 'traverse';
+import {promisify} from 'util';
 import {ConnectorClient} from '../src/connectorClient';
 import {EmptyBulkError, NamespaceNotDefinedError} from '../src/errors';
 import {HttpClient} from '../src/httpClient';
@@ -47,8 +54,27 @@ const bulkDoneRoute = new SCBulkDoneRoute();
 const bulkRoute = new SCBulkRoute();
 const thingUpdateRoute = new SCThingUpdateRoute();
 
+const readdirPromisified = promisify(readdir);
+const readFilePromisified = promisify(readFile);
+
 const httpClient = new HttpClient();
 
+/**
+ * Check if something contains things
+ *
+ * @param thing Thing to check
+ */
+function doesContainThings<T extends SCThing>(thing: T): boolean {
+  /* tslint:disable-next-line:only-arrow-functions */
+  return traverse(thing).reduce(function(sum, item) {
+    if (this.isRoot) {
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    return sum || (item === null) ? false : isThing(item);
+  }, false);
+}
+
 @suite()
 export class ConnectorClientSpec {
   async after() {
@@ -305,6 +331,36 @@ export class ConnectorClientSpec {
     }).to.throw(NamespaceNotDefinedError);
   }
 
+  @test
+  async removeReferences() {
+    const pathToTestFiles = resolve(
+      __dirname,
+      '..',
+      'node_modules',
+      '@openstapps',
+      'core',
+      'test',
+      'resources',
+    );
+
+    const testFiles = await readdirPromisified(pathToTestFiles);
+
+    const testInstances = await asyncPool(5, testFiles, async (testFile) => {
+      const buffer = await readFilePromisified(join(pathToTestFiles, testFile));
+      const content = JSON.parse(buffer.toString());
+      return content.instance;
+    });
+
+    for (const testInstance of testInstances) {
+      const testInstanceWithoutReferences = ConnectorClient.removeReferences(testInstance);
+      expect(doesContainThings(testInstanceWithoutReferences)).to.be.equal(false, JSON.stringify(
+        [testInstance, testInstanceWithoutReferences],
+        null,
+        2,
+      ));
+    }
+  }
+
   @test
   async update() {
     const message: SCMessage = {