diff --git a/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/Constants/RequestTracingConstants.cs b/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/Constants/RequestTracingConstants.cs
index 15e862b6c..1084c2741 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/Constants/RequestTracingConstants.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/Constants/RequestTracingConstants.cs
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ internal class RequestTracingConstants
         public const string FeatureFlagUsesTelemetryTag = "Telemetry";
         public const string FeatureFlagUsesSeedTag = "Seed";
         public const string FeatureFlagMaxVariantsKey = "MaxVariants";
-        public const string FeatureFlagUsesVariantConfigurationReferenceTag = "ConfigRef";
 
         public const string DiagnosticHeaderActivityName = "Azure.CustomDiagnosticHeaders";
         public const string CorrelationContextHeader = "Correlation-Context";
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureFlagTracing.cs b/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureFlagTracing.cs
index f48b5220c..8c696e498 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureFlagTracing.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureFlagTracing.cs
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ internal class FeatureFlagTracing
         public bool UsesTargetingFilter { get; set; } = false;
         public bool UsesSeed { get; set; } = false;
         public bool UsesTelemetry { get; set; } = false;
-        public bool UsesVariantConfigurationReference { get; set; } = false;
         public int MaxVariants { get; set; }
 
         public bool UsesAnyFeatureFilter()
@@ -35,7 +34,7 @@ public bool UsesAnyFeatureFilter()
 
         public bool UsesAnyTracingFeature()
         {
-            return UsesSeed || UsesTelemetry || UsesVariantConfigurationReference;
+            return UsesSeed || UsesTelemetry;
         }
 
         public void ResetFeatureFlagTracing()
@@ -46,7 +45,6 @@ public void ResetFeatureFlagTracing()
             UsesTargetingFilter = false;
             UsesSeed = false;
             UsesTelemetry = false;
-            UsesVariantConfigurationReference = false;
             MaxVariants = 0;
         }
 
@@ -147,16 +145,6 @@ public string CreateFeaturesString()
                 sb.Append(RequestTracingConstants.FeatureFlagUsesSeedTag);
             }
 
-            if (UsesVariantConfigurationReference)
-            {
-                if (sb.Length > 0)
-                {
-                    sb.Append(RequestTracingConstants.Delimiter);
-                }
-
-                sb.Append(RequestTracingConstants.FeatureFlagUsesVariantConfigurationReferenceTag);
-            }
-
             if (UsesTelemetry)
             {
                 if (sb.Length > 0)
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureManagementConstants.cs b/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureManagementConstants.cs
index c6d86d849..6d385797f 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureManagementConstants.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureManagementConstants.cs
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ internal class FeatureManagementConstants
         public const string Parameters = "parameters";
         public const string Variant = "variant";
         public const string ConfigurationValue = "configuration_value";
-        public const string ConfigurationReference = "configuration_reference";
         public const string StatusOverride = "status_override";
         public const string DefaultWhenDisabled = "default_when_disabled";
         public const string DefaultWhenEnabled = "default_when_enabled";
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureManagementKeyValueAdapter.cs b/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureManagementKeyValueAdapter.cs
index 2b0e08331..b6d137f38 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureManagementKeyValueAdapter.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureManagementKeyValueAdapter.cs
@@ -187,13 +187,6 @@ private List<KeyValuePair<string, string>> ProcessMicrosoftSchemaFeatureFlag(Fea
                             (string.IsNullOrEmpty(kvp.Key) ? "" : $":{kvp.Key}"), kvp.Value));
                     }
 
-                    if (featureVariant.ConfigurationReference != null)
-                    {
-                        _featureFlagTracing.UsesVariantConfigurationReference = true;
-
-                        keyValues.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>($"{variantsPath}:{FeatureManagementConstants.ConfigurationReference}", featureVariant.ConfigurationReference));
-                    }
-
                     if (featureVariant.StatusOverride != null)
                     {
                         keyValues.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>($"{variantsPath}:{FeatureManagementConstants.StatusOverride}", featureVariant.StatusOverride));
@@ -1157,24 +1150,6 @@ private FeatureVariant ParseFeatureVariant(ref Utf8JsonReader reader, string set
                             break;
                         }
 
-                    case FeatureManagementConstants.ConfigurationReference:
-                        {
-                            if (reader.Read() && reader.TokenType == JsonTokenType.String)
-                            {
-                                featureVariant.ConfigurationReference = reader.GetString();
-                            }
-                            else if (reader.TokenType != JsonTokenType.Null)
-                            {
-                                throw CreateFeatureFlagFormatException(
-                                    FeatureManagementConstants.ConfigurationReference,
-                                    settingKey,
-                                    reader.TokenType.ToString(),
-                                    JsonTokenType.String.ToString());
-                            }
-
-                            break;
-                        }
-
                     case FeatureManagementConstants.ConfigurationValue:
                         {
                             if (reader.Read())
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureVariant.cs b/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureVariant.cs
index 87c5c0b1f..7bfd9d6f7 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureVariant.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagement/FeatureVariant.cs
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@ internal class FeatureVariant
 
         public JsonElement ConfigurationValue { get; set; }
 
-        public string ConfigurationReference { get; set; }
-
         public string StatusOverride { get; set; }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Tests.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagementTests.cs b/tests/Tests.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagementTests.cs
index a05fee93e..96d2cf085 100644
--- a/tests/Tests.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagementTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Tests.AzureAppConfiguration/FeatureManagementTests.cs
@@ -435,7 +435,6 @@ public class FeatureManagementTests
 		                    },
 		                    {
 			                    ""name"": ""Small"",
-			                    ""configuration_reference"": ""ShoppingCart:Small"",
 			                    ""status_override"": ""Disabled""
 		                    }
 	                        ],
@@ -1868,7 +1867,6 @@ public void WithVariants()
             Assert.Equal("Big", config["feature_management:feature_flags:0:variants:0:name"]);
             Assert.Equal("600px", config["feature_management:feature_flags:0:variants:0:configuration_value"]);
             Assert.Equal("Small", config["feature_management:feature_flags:0:variants:1:name"]);
-            Assert.Equal("ShoppingCart:Small", config["feature_management:feature_flags:0:variants:1:configuration_reference"]);
             Assert.Equal("Disabled", config["feature_management:feature_flags:0:variants:1:status_override"]);
             Assert.Equal("Small", config["feature_management:feature_flags:0:allocation:default_when_disabled"]);
             Assert.Equal("Small", config["feature_management:feature_flags:0:allocation:default_when_enabled"]);
@@ -2023,7 +2021,7 @@ public void ThrowsOnIncorrectJsonTypes()
             var settings = new List<ConfigurationSetting>()
             {
                 CreateFeatureFlag("Feature1", variantsJsonString: @"[{""name"": 1}]"),
-                CreateFeatureFlag("Feature2", variantsJsonString: @"[{""configuration_reference"": true}]"),
+                CreateFeatureFlag("Feature2", requirementType: "2"),
                 CreateFeatureFlag("Feature3", variantsJsonString: @"[{""status_override"": []}]"),
                 CreateFeatureFlag("Feature4", seed: "{}"),
                 CreateFeatureFlag("Feature5", defaultWhenDisabled: "5"),
@@ -2038,8 +2036,7 @@ public void ThrowsOnIncorrectJsonTypes()
                 CreateFeatureFlag("Feature14", telemetryEnabled: "14"),
                 CreateFeatureFlag("Feature15", telemetryMetadataJsonString: @"{""key"": 15}"),
                 CreateFeatureFlag("Feature16", clientFiltersJsonString: @"[{""name"": 16}]"),
-                CreateFeatureFlag("Feature17", clientFiltersJsonString: @"{""key"": [{""name"": ""name"", ""parameters"": 17}]}"),
-                CreateFeatureFlag("Feature18", requirementType: "18")
+                CreateFeatureFlag("Feature17", clientFiltersJsonString: @"{""key"": [{""name"": ""name"", ""parameters"": 17}]}")
             };
 
             var mockResponse = new Mock<Response>();