diff --git a/pkg/report/model.go b/pkg/report/model.go
index fe0872a48..cae7124c2 100644
--- a/pkg/report/model.go
+++ b/pkg/report/model.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ type (
 		Run(context.Context) error
 		Load(context.Context, ...*FrameDefinition) ([]*Frame, error)
 		Describe(ctx context.Context, source string) (FrameDescriptionSet, error)
+		GetStep(name string) step
 	}
 
 	stepSet []step
@@ -154,6 +155,17 @@ func (m *model) Describe(ctx context.Context, source string) (out FrameDescripti
 	return ds.Describe(), nil
 }
 
+// GetStep returns the details of the requested step
+func (m *model) GetStep(name string) step {
+	for _, s := range m.steps {
+		if s.Name() == name {
+			return s
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // Load returns the Frames based on the provided FrameDefinitions
 //
 // The Run method must be called before the frames can be provided.
diff --git a/system/service/report.go b/system/service/report.go
index 4b5fb9c81..e85ce7797 100644
--- a/system/service/report.go
+++ b/system/service/report.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package service
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/cortezaproject/corteza-server/pkg/actionlog"
 	"github.com/cortezaproject/corteza-server/pkg/label"
@@ -360,9 +361,14 @@ func (svc *report) RunFresh(ctx context.Context, src types.ReportDataSourceSet,
 				continue
 			}
 
+			stp := model.GetStep(d.Source)
+			if stp == nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("unknown source: %s", d.Source)
+			}
+
 			// if the current source matches the prev. source, and they both define references,
 			// they fall into the same chunk.
-			if (d.Source == dd[i-1].Source) && (d.Ref != "" && dd[i-1].Ref != "") {
+			if stp.Def().Join != nil && (d.Source == dd[i-1].Source) && (d.Ref != "" && dd[i-1].Ref != "") {
 				auxdd = append(auxdd, d)
 				continue
 			}
diff --git a/tests/reporter/7002_modeling_multi_ignored_ref_test.go b/tests/reporter/7002_modeling_multi_ignored_ref_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..61a03c5ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/reporter/7002_modeling_multi_ignored_ref_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package reporter
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/cortezaproject/corteza-server/pkg/report"
+)
+
+func Test7002_modeling_multi_ignored_ref(t *testing.T) {
+	var (
+		ctx, h, s = setup(t)
+		m, _, dd  = loadScenario(ctx, s, t, h)
+		ff        = loadNoErrMulti(ctx, h, m, dd...)
+		f         *report.Frame
+	)
+
+	h.a.Len(ff, 2)
+
+	f = ff[0]
+	h.a.Equal("f1", f.Name)
+	h.a.Equal("first_name<String>, last_name<String>", f.Columns.String())
+	h.a.Len(f.Rows, 3)
+
+	f = ff[1]
+	h.a.Equal("f2", f.Name)
+	h.a.Equal("first_name<String>, last_name<String>", f.Columns.String())
+	h.a.Len(f.Rows, 1)
+}
diff --git a/tests/reporter/main_test.go b/tests/reporter/main_test.go
index dc7cb61f6..6b98ada6d 100644
--- a/tests/reporter/main_test.go
+++ b/tests/reporter/main_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"path"
@@ -203,9 +204,14 @@ func loadNoErrMulti(ctx context.Context, h helper, m report.M, dd ...*report.Fra
 			continue
 		}
 
+		stp := m.GetStep(d.Source)
+		if stp == nil {
+			h.a.FailNow(fmt.Sprintf("unknown source: %s", d.Source))
+		}
+
 		// if the current source matches the prev. source, and they both define references,
 		// they fall into the same chunk.
-		if (d.Source == dd[i-1].Source) && (d.Ref != "" && dd[i-1].Ref != "") {
+		if stp.Def().Join != nil && (d.Source == dd[i-1].Source) && (d.Ref != "" && dd[i-1].Ref != "") {
 			auxdd = append(auxdd, d)
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/tests/reporter/testdata/S7002_modeling_multi_ignored_ref/report.json b/tests/reporter/testdata/S7002_modeling_multi_ignored_ref/report.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..202836355
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/reporter/testdata/S7002_modeling_multi_ignored_ref/report.json
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+{
+  "handle": "testing_report",
+  "sources": [
+    { "step": { "load": {
+      "name": "users",
+      "source": "composeRecords",
+      "definition": {
+        "module": "user",
+        "namespace": "ns"
+      }
+    }}}
+  ],
+  "frames": [{
+    "name":   "f1",
+    "source": "users",
+    "ref": "users",
+    "columns": [
+      { "name": "first_name", "label": "first_name" },
+      { "name": "last_name", "label": "last_name" }
+    ],
+    "sort": "first_name ASC",
+    "filter": "first_name == 'Maria'"
+  }, {
+    "name":   "f2",
+    "source": "users",
+    "ref": "users",
+    "columns": [
+      { "name": "first_name", "label": "first_name" },
+      { "name": "last_name", "label": "last_name" }
+    ],
+    "sort": "first_name ASC",
+    "filter": "first_name == 'Sascha'"
+  }]
+}