diff --git a/marker/providers/pdf.py b/marker/providers/pdf.py
index a63723ff..c07b5649 100644
--- a/marker/providers/pdf.py
+++ b/marker/providers/pdf.py
@@ -232,7 +232,9 @@ def pdftext_extraction(self, doc: PdfDocument) -> ProviderPageLines:
                     )
             if self.check_line_spans(lines):
                 page_lines[page_id] = lines
-            self.page_refs[page_id] = page["refs"]
+                refs = page.get("refs")
+                if refs is not None:
+                    self.page_refs[page_id] = page["refs"]
 
         return page_lines