diff --git a/src/plugins/data/common/search/search_source/inject_references.ts b/src/plugins/data/common/search/search_source/inject_references.ts
index 286cfbd16c6e..c22da0089bc1 100644
--- a/src/plugins/data/common/search/search_source/inject_references.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/data/common/search/search_source/inject_references.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ import { SavedObjectReference } from 'src/core/types';
 import { SearchSourceFields } from './types';
 
 export const injectReferences = (
-  searchSourceFields: SearchSourceFields & { indexRefName: string },
+  searchSourceFields: SearchSourceFields & { indexRefName?: string },
   references: SavedObjectReference[]
 ) => {
   const searchSourceReturnFields: SearchSourceFields = { ...searchSourceFields };
diff --git a/src/plugins/saved_objects/public/saved_object/helpers/apply_opensearch_resp.ts b/src/plugins/saved_objects/public/saved_object/helpers/apply_opensearch_resp.ts
index a7e864a49751..4fb92d87f432 100644
--- a/src/plugins/saved_objects/public/saved_object/helpers/apply_opensearch_resp.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/saved_objects/public/saved_object/helpers/apply_opensearch_resp.ts
@@ -91,10 +91,7 @@ export async function applyOpenSearchResp(
       let searchSourceValues = parseSearchSourceJSON(meta.searchSourceJSON);
 
       if (config.searchSource) {
-        searchSourceValues = injectSearchSourceReferences(
-          searchSourceValues as any,
-          resp.references
-        );
+        searchSourceValues = injectSearchSourceReferences(searchSourceValues, resp.references);
         savedObject.searchSource = await dependencies.search.searchSource.create(
           searchSourceValues
         );
diff --git a/src/plugins/vis_builder/public/saved_visualizations/saved_visualization_references.ts b/src/plugins/vis_builder/public/saved_visualizations/saved_visualization_references.ts
index 06710c4d0780..0381c5e015f1 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vis_builder/public/saved_visualizations/saved_visualization_references.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/vis_builder/public/saved_visualizations/saved_visualization_references.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ export function injectReferences(
 ) {
   if (savedObject.searchSourceFields) {
     savedObject.searchSourceFields = injectSearchSourceReferences(
-      savedObject.searchSourceFields as any,
+      savedObject.searchSourceFields,
       references
     );
   }
diff --git a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/saved_visualizations/saved_visualization_references.ts b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/saved_visualizations/saved_visualization_references.ts
index b0ee904273ab..78150615c32c 100644
--- a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/saved_visualizations/saved_visualization_references.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/saved_visualizations/saved_visualization_references.ts
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ export function extractReferences({
 export function injectReferences(savedObject: VisSavedObject, references: SavedObjectReference[]) {
   if (savedObject.searchSourceFields) {
     savedObject.searchSourceFields = injectSearchSourceReferences(
-      savedObject.searchSourceFields as any,
+      savedObject.searchSourceFields,
       references
     );
   }