diff --git a/src/JsonSchema/RefResolver.php b/src/JsonSchema/RefResolver.php
index 4786a331..e2048724 100644
--- a/src/JsonSchema/RefResolver.php
+++ b/src/JsonSchema/RefResolver.php
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ class RefResolver
      * @var UriRetrieverInterface
      */
     protected $uriRetriever = null;
+    
+    
+    protected $rootSchema;
+    
 
     /**
      * @param UriRetriever $retriever
@@ -109,6 +113,10 @@ public function resolve($schema, $sourceUri = null)
             $sourceUri = $schema->id;
         }
 
+        if (!$this->rootSchema) {
+            $this->rootSchema = $schema;
+        }
+        
         // Resolve $ref first
         $this->resolveRef($schema, $sourceUri);
 
@@ -204,8 +212,25 @@ public function resolveRef($schema, $sourceUri)
             return;
         }
 
-        $refSchema = $this->fetchRef($schema->$ref, $sourceUri);
+        if ($schema->{$ref}[0] === '#') {
+            $path = substr($schema->$ref, 1);
+            if (empty($path)) {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            if ($path[0] !== '/') {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            $pathParts = explode('/', $path);
+            array_shift($pathParts);
+
+            $refSchema = $this->resolveRefSegment($this->rootSchema, $pathParts);
+        } else {
+            $refSchema = $this->fetchRef($schema->$ref, $sourceUri);
+        }
         unset($schema->$ref);
+        
 
         // Augment the current $schema object with properties fetched
         foreach (get_object_vars($refSchema) as $prop => $value) {
@@ -213,6 +238,17 @@ public function resolveRef($schema, $sourceUri)
         }
     }
 
+    protected function resolveRefSegment($data, $pathParts)
+    {
+        if (empty($pathParts) || empty($data)) {
+            return $data;
+        }
+
+        $key = $this->transformKey(array_shift($pathParts));
+
+        return $this->resolveRefSegment(is_array($data) ? $data[$key] : $data->$key,  $pathParts);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Set URI Retriever for use with the Ref Resolver
      *
@@ -225,4 +261,12 @@ public function setUriRetriever(UriRetriever $retriever)
 
         return $this;
     }
+
+    protected function transformKey($key)
+    {
+        return strtr($key, array(
+            '~1' => '/',
+            '~0' => '~',
+        ));
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/JsonSchema/Tests/Drafts/Draft4Test.php b/tests/JsonSchema/Tests/Drafts/Draft4Test.php
index 3f1d566c..9bd45e6a 100644
--- a/tests/JsonSchema/Tests/Drafts/Draft4Test.php
+++ b/tests/JsonSchema/Tests/Drafts/Draft4Test.php
@@ -25,5 +25,54 @@ protected function getSkippedTests()
             'zeroTerminatedFloats.json'
         );
     }
+    
+    public function testInnerDefinitions(){
+        $schema = <<<JSN
+{
+    "type": "object",
+    "additionalProperties":false,
+    "properties": {
+        "person": { "\$ref": "#/definitions/persondef" },
+        "person-age": { "\$ref": "#/definitions/persondef/properties/age" },
+        "slash": { "\$ref": "#/definitions/persondef/properties/~1slash" },
+        "tilde": { "\$ref": "#/definitions/persondef/properties/~0tilde" }
+    },
+    "definitions": {
+        "persondef": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "additionalProperties":false,
+            "properties": {
+                "name": {
+                    "type": "string"
+                },
+                "age": {
+                    "type" : "integer"
+                },
+                "/slash": {
+                    "type" : "integer"
+                },
+                "~tilde": {
+                    "type" : "integer"
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+JSN;
+        $schemaObj = json_decode($schema);
+        $resolver = new \JsonSchema\RefResolver();
+        $resolver->resolve($schemaObj);
+        
+        $schema = json_encode($schemaObj);
+        
+        $this->testValidCases('{"person": {"name" : "John Doe", "age" : 30} }', $schema);
+        $this->testInvalidCases('{"person": {"name" : "John Doe", "age" : "wrong"} }', $schema);
+        $this->testValidCases('{"person-age": 30 }', $schema);
+        $this->testInvalidCases('{"person-age": "wrong" }', $schema);
+        $this->testValidCases('{"slash": 30 }', $schema);
+        $this->testInvalidCases('{"slash": "wrong" }', $schema);
+        $this->testValidCases('{"tilde": 30 }', $schema);
+        $this->testInvalidCases('{"tilde": "wrong" }', $schema);
+    }
 
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}