diff --git a/src/parser_lyb.c b/src/parser_lyb.c
index a30ca8e..60be7d9 100644
--- a/src/parser_lyb.c
+++ b/src/parser_lyb.c
@@ -512,8 +512,8 @@
 
     /* we are parsing leafref/ptr union stored as the target type,
      * so we first parse it into string and then resolve the leafref/ptr union */
-    if (!(*value_flags & LY_VALUE_UNRES) && ((type->base == LY_TYPE_LEAFREF)
-            || (type->base == LY_TYPE_INST) || ((type->base == LY_TYPE_UNION) && type->info.uni.has_ptr_type))) {
+    if ((type->base == LY_TYPE_LEAFREF) || (type->base == LY_TYPE_INST)
+            || ((type->base == LY_TYPE_UNION) && type->info.uni.has_ptr_type)) {
         if ((value_type == LY_TYPE_INST) || (value_type == LY_TYPE_IDENT) || (value_type == LY_TYPE_UNION)) {
             /* we already have a string */
             goto parse_reference;
@@ -637,10 +637,7 @@
         return -1;
     }
 
-    if (*value_flags & LY_VALUE_UNRES) {
-        /* just remove the flag, it should stay unresolved */
-        leaf->validity &= ~LYD_VAL_LEAFREF;
-    } else if ((type->base == LY_TYPE_LEAFREF) || (type->base == LY_TYPE_INST)
+    if ((type->base == LY_TYPE_LEAFREF) || (type->base == LY_TYPE_INST)
             || ((type->base == LY_TYPE_UNION) && type->info.uni.has_ptr_type)) {
 parse_reference:
         assert(*value_str);