diff --git a/gramps2/ChangeLog b/gramps2/ChangeLog
index cb2ca0ea8..3c9f58a94 100644
--- a/gramps2/ChangeLog
+++ b/gramps2/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2005-07-09  Alex Roitman  <shura@gramps-project.org>
+	* src/ReadXML.py (stop_ref): Properly read id-based witness
+	reference created by old gramps.
+
 2005-07-09  Julio Sanchez  <jsanchez@users.sourceforge.net>
 	* src/docgen/OpenOfficeDoc.py: Make the output conform to the DTDs
 	for OpenOffice.org XML
diff --git a/gramps2/src/ReadXML.py b/gramps2/src/ReadXML.py
index 41ee97573..b294cec58 100644
--- a/gramps2/src/ReadXML.py
+++ b/gramps2/src/ReadXML.py
@@ -1126,7 +1126,8 @@ class GrampsParser:
             self.name = None
 
     def stop_ref(self,tag):
-        self.witness = RelLib.Witness(RelLib.Event.ID,tag)
+        person = self.find_person_by_gramps_id(self.map_gid(tag))
+        self.witness = RelLib.Witness(RelLib.Event.ID,person.get_handle())
 
     def stop_place(self,tag):
         if self.placeobj == None: