diff --git a/packages/sql/src/sql-builder.ts b/packages/sql/src/sql-builder.ts
index 864bbe7fa..f65f871f6 100644
--- a/packages/sql/src/sql-builder.ts
+++ b/packages/sql/src/sql-builder.ts
@@ -459,3 +459,7 @@ export class SqlBuilder {
         return sql;
     }
 }
+
+export class SqlReference {
+    constructor(public readonly field: string) {}
+}
diff --git a/packages/sql/src/sql-filter-builder.ts b/packages/sql/src/sql-filter-builder.ts
index 3f99e6731..360ceb77e 100644
--- a/packages/sql/src/sql-filter-builder.ts
+++ b/packages/sql/src/sql-filter-builder.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import {
 } from '@deepkit/type';
 import { SqlPlaceholderStrategy } from './platform/default-platform.js';
 import { getPreparedEntity, PreparedAdapter, PreparedEntity } from './prepare.js';
+import { SqlReference } from './sql-builder.js';
 
 type Filter = { [name: string]: any };
 
@@ -111,10 +112,9 @@ export class SQLFilterBuilder {
         else if (comparison === 'regex') return this.regexpComparator(this.quoteIdWithTable(fieldName), value);
         else throw new Error(`Comparator ${comparison} not supported.`);
 
-        const referenceValue = 'string' === typeof value && value[0] === '$';
         let rvalue = '';
-        if (referenceValue) {
-            rvalue = `${this.quoteIdWithTable(value.substr(1))}`;
+        if (value instanceof SqlReference) {
+            rvalue = `${this.quoteIdWithTable(value.field)}`;
         } else {
             if (value === undefined || value === null) {
                 cmpSign = cmpSign === '!=' ? this.isNotNull() : this.isNull();
diff --git a/packages/sql/tests/sql-query.spec.ts b/packages/sql/tests/sql-query.spec.ts
index ece7fa4ba..c3b70b92a 100644
--- a/packages/sql/tests/sql-query.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/sql/tests/sql-query.spec.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { splitDotPath, sql, SQLQueryModel } from '../src/sql-adapter.js';
 import { DefaultPlatform, SqlPlaceholderStrategy } from '../src/platform/default-platform.js';
 import { SchemaParser } from '../src/reverse/schema-parser.js';
 import { DatabaseModel } from '../src/schema/table.js';
-import { SqlBuilder } from '../src/sql-builder.js';
+import { SqlBuilder, SqlReference } from '../src/sql-builder.js';
 import { PreparedAdapter } from '../src/prepare.js';
 
 function quoteId(value: string): string {
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ test('QueryToSql', () => {
     });
 
     expect(queryToSql.convert({ id: 123 })).toBe(`user.id = ?`);
-    expect(queryToSql.convert({ id: '$id' })).toBe(`user.id = user.id`);
+    expect(queryToSql.convert({ id: new SqlReference('id') })).toBe(`user.id = user.id`);
 
     expect(queryToSql.convert({ username: 'Peter' })).toBe(`user.username = ?`);
     expect(queryToSql.convert({ id: 44, username: 'Peter' })).toBe(`(user.id = ? AND user.username = ?)`);