diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index df93f89a41a..8e75ef4214b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ v 8.13.0 (unreleased)
   - Speed-up group milestones show page
   - Log LDAP lookup errors and don't swallow unrelated exceptions. !6103 (Markus Koller)
   - Add more tests for calendar contribution (ClemMakesApps)
+  - Avoid database queries on Banzai::ReferenceParser::BaseParser for nodes without references
   - Fix robots.txt disallowing access to groups starting with "s" (Matt Harrison)
   - Only update issuable labels if they have been changed
   - Revoke button in Applications Settings underlines on hover.
diff --git a/lib/banzai/reference_parser/base_parser.rb b/lib/banzai/reference_parser/base_parser.rb
index e8e03e4a98f..f5d110e987b 100644
--- a/lib/banzai/reference_parser/base_parser.rb
+++ b/lib/banzai/reference_parser/base_parser.rb
@@ -79,7 +79,11 @@ module Banzai
       def referenced_by(nodes)
         ids = unique_attribute_values(nodes, self.class.data_attribute)
 
-        references_relation.where(id: ids)
+        if ids.empty?
+          references_relation.none
+        else
+          references_relation.where(id: ids)
+        end
       end
 
       # Returns the ActiveRecord::Relation to use for querying references in the