diff --git a/cache.inc.php b/cache.inc.php
index bf2817a..144863a 100644
--- a/cache.inc.php
+++ b/cache.inc.php
@@ -325,14 +325,24 @@ class ConfigCacheFileMap
       unset($this->file2deps[$file]);
   }
 
-  function updateDepsForEntry(ConfigCacheEntry $entry)
+  function updateDepsForEntry(array $base_dirs, ConfigCacheEntry $entry)
   {
-    foreach($entry->includes as $include)
+    //1. add includes
+    $all_refs = $entry->includes;
+
+    //2. add refs
+    foreach($entry->refs as $ref => $_)
     {
-      if(isset($this->file2deps[$include]))
-        $this->file2deps[$include][$entry->file] = true;
+      $file = config_real_path($base_dirs, substr($ref, 1) . '.conf.js');
+      $all_refs[] = $file;
+    }
+
+    foreach($all_refs as $ref_file)
+    {
+      if(isset($this->file2deps[$ref_file]))
+        $this->file2deps[$ref_file][$entry->file] = true;
       else
-        $this->file2deps[$include] = [$entry->file => true];
+        $this->file2deps[$ref_file] = [$entry->file => true];
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/config.inc.php b/config.inc.php
index be667a4..b1dd52f 100644
--- a/config.inc.php
+++ b/config.inc.php
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ class ConfigManager
     $affected_all_files = $this->_getAffectedFiles($req, $added_files, $removed_files);
     $affected_conf_files = $this->filterConfigFiles($affected_all_files);
 
-    config_log("Affected configs: {$affected_conf_files->count()} (request: {$req->files->count()})");
+    config_log("Affected configs: {$affected_conf_files->count()} (requested: {$req->files->count()})");
 
     $update_result = new ConfigUpdateResult();
     $update_result->request = $req;
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ class ConfigManager
     foreach($affected_conf_files as $file)
     {
       $cache_entry = $this->cache->getOrLoadByPath($file);
-      $fs_cache_map->updateDepsForEntry($cache_entry);
+      $fs_cache_map->updateDepsForEntry($this->globals->base_dirs, $cache_entry);
     }
 
     if($req->mode == ConfigUpdateMode::Force || 
@@ -396,12 +396,9 @@ class ConfigManager
       //if there were removed files we need to rebuild affected files
       foreach($removed_files as $file)
       {
-        if(!config_is_file($file))
-        {
-          $affected_by_file = $fs_cache_map->getAffectedFiles($file);
-          foreach($affected_by_file as $dep)
-            $affected_files->addFile($dep, unique: true);
-        }
+        $affected_by_file = $fs_cache_map->getAffectedFiles($file);
+        foreach($affected_by_file as $dep)
+          $affected_files->addFile($dep, unique: true);
       }
     }
     else if($req->mode === ConfigUpdateMode::Selected)
@@ -411,13 +408,9 @@ class ConfigManager
       foreach($req->files as $file)
       {
         $affected_files->addFile($file, unique: true);
-
-        if(!config_is_file($file))
-        {
-          $affected_by_file = $fs_cache_map->getAffectedFiles($file);
-          foreach($affected_by_file as $dep)
-            $affected_files->addFile($dep, unique: true);
-        }
+        $affected_by_file = $fs_cache_map->getAffectedFiles($file);
+        foreach($affected_by_file as $dep)
+          $affected_files->addFile($dep, unique: true);
       }
     }
 
diff --git a/util.inc.php b/util.inc.php
index 58c6d37..2095a34 100644
--- a/util.inc.php
+++ b/util.inc.php
@@ -28,9 +28,11 @@ function config_real_path(array $base_dirs, string $rel_path, bool $strict = tru
 {
   foreach($base_dirs as $dir)
     if(is_file($dir . '/' . $rel_path))
-      return $dir . '/' . $rel_path;
+      return normalize_path($dir . '/' . $rel_path);
+
   if($strict)
     throw new Exception("No file for relative path '$rel_path'");
+
   return null;
 }
 
@@ -104,6 +106,7 @@ function config_walk_fields(object $proto, callable $callback)
   }
 }
 
+//TODO: doesn't really belong here
 function config_includes_map_find_text_origin(array $map, string $file, string $text) : array
 {
   if(!isset($map[$file]))