diff --git a/django_mailbox/migrations/0009_remove_references_table.py b/django_mailbox/migrations/0009_remove_references_table.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..38afc96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/django_mailbox/migrations/0009_remove_references_table.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+import datetime
+from south.db import db
+from south.v2 import SchemaMigration
+from django.db import models
+
+
+class Migration(SchemaMigration):
+
+    def forwards(self, orm):
+        # Removing M2M table for field references on 'Message'
+        db.delete_table('django_mailbox_message_references')
+
+
+    def backwards(self, orm):
+        # Adding M2M table for field references on 'Message'
+        db.create_table('django_mailbox_message_references', (
+            ('id', models.AutoField(verbose_name='ID', primary_key=True, auto_created=True)),
+            ('from_message', models.ForeignKey(orm['django_mailbox.message'], null=False)),
+            ('to_message', models.ForeignKey(orm['django_mailbox.message'], null=False))
+        ))
+        db.create_unique('django_mailbox_message_references', ['from_message_id', 'to_message_id'])
+
+
+    models = {
+        'django_mailbox.mailbox': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'Mailbox'},
+            'active': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255'}),
+            'uri': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'default': 'None', 'max_length': '255', 'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'})
+        },
+        'django_mailbox.message': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'Message'},
+            'body': ('django.db.models.fields.TextField', [], {}),
+            'from_header': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'in_reply_to': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'blank': 'True', 'related_name': "'replies'", 'null': 'True', 'to': "orm['django_mailbox.Message']"}),
+            'mailbox': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'related_name': "'messages'", 'to': "orm['django_mailbox.Mailbox']"}),
+            'message_id': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255'}),
+            'outgoing': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'processed': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'subject': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '255'}),
+            'to_header': ('django.db.models.fields.TextField', [], {})
+        }
+    }
+
+    complete_apps = ['django_mailbox']
diff --git a/django_mailbox/models.py b/django_mailbox/models.py
index 6eb431a..d32c074 100755
--- a/django_mailbox/models.py
+++ b/django_mailbox/models.py
@@ -134,15 +134,6 @@ class Mailbox(models.Model):
             except IndexError:
                 pass
         msg.save()
-        if message['references']:
-            references = message['references'].split('\n')
-            for reference in references:
-                try:
-                    msg.references.add(
-                        Message.objects.filter(message_id=reference.strip())[0]
-                    )
-                except IndexError:
-                    pass
         return msg
 
     def get_new_mail(self):
@@ -183,12 +174,6 @@ class Message(models.Model):
         blank=True,
         null=True,
     )
-    references = models.ManyToManyField(
-        'django_mailbox.Message', 
-        related_name='referenced_by',
-        blank=True,
-        null=True,
-    )
     from_header = models.CharField(
         max_length=255,
     )
@@ -251,12 +236,6 @@ class Message(models.Model):
         message.extra_headers['Message-ID'] = make_msgid()
         message.extra_headers['Date'] = formatdate()
         message.extra_headers['In-Reply-To'] = self.message_id
-        references = [self.message_id]
-        for reference in self.references.all():
-            references.append(
-                    ' %s' % reference.message_id
-                )
-        message.extra_headers['References'] = '\n'.join(references)
         message.send()
         return self.mailbox.record_outgoing_message(
                 email.message_from_string(