diff --git a/src/json-utils_1.1.js b/src/json-utils_1.1.js
index a084b1e9a..787178cc6 100644
--- a/src/json-utils_1.1.js
+++ b/src/json-utils_1.1.js
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ function getElementData(entity) {
     return;
   }
   // node id's that should save without child nodes
-  const skipChildrenNodes = ['environment'];
+  const skipChildrenNodes = ['environment', 'reference-layers'];
   const elementTree = getAttributes(entity);
   const children = entity.childNodes;
   if (children.length && !skipChildrenNodes.includes(elementTree.id)) {