diff --git a/src/Lean/Data/Lsp/Internal.lean b/src/Lean/Data/Lsp/Internal.lean
index c1e1de32757f..d0599bdff743 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Data/Lsp/Internal.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Data/Lsp/Internal.lean
@@ -233,40 +233,51 @@ instance : ToJson RefInfo where
       ("usages", toJson $ i.usages.map locationToList)
     ]
 
+private def RefInfo.fromJsonWithParentDecls? (j : Json) :
+    StateT (Std.HashSet String) (Except String) RefInfo := do
+  let toLocation (a : Array Json) :
+      StateT (Std.HashSet String) (Except String) RefInfo.Location := do
+    if h : a.size ≠ 4 ∧ a.size ≠ 5 then
+      throw s!"Expected list of length 4 or 5, not {a.size}"
+    else
+      let startPosLine ← fromJson? a[0]
+      let startPosCharacter ← fromJson? a[1]
+      let endPosLine ← fromJson? a[2]
+      let endPosCharacter ← fromJson? a[3]
+      if h' : a.size = 5 then
+        let parentDecl : String ← fromJson? a[4]
+        let parentDecls ← get
+        let parentDecl ← match parentDecls.get? parentDecl with
+          | some existing => pure existing
+          | none =>
+            set (parentDecls.insert parentDecl)
+            pure parentDecl
+        return {
+          startPosLine
+          startPosCharacter
+          endPosLine
+          endPosCharacter
+          parentDecl
+        }
+      else
+        return {
+          startPosLine
+          startPosCharacter
+          endPosLine
+          endPosCharacter
+          parentDecl := ""
+        }
+  let definition? ← j.getObjValAs? (Option $ Array Json) "definition"
+  let definition? ← match definition? with
+    | none => pure none
+    | some array => some <$> toLocation array
+  let usages ← j.getObjValAs? (Array $ Array Json) "usages"
+  let usages ← usages.mapM toLocation
+  pure { definition?, usages }
+
 instance : FromJson RefInfo where
   -- This implementation is optimized to prevent redundant intermediate allocations.
-  fromJson? j := do
-    let toLocation (a : Array Json) : Except String RefInfo.Location := do
-      if h : a.size ≠ 4 ∧ a.size ≠ 5 then
-        .error s!"Expected list of length 4 or 5, not {a.size}"
-      else
-        let startPosLine ← fromJson? a[0]
-        let startPosCharacter ← fromJson? a[1]
-        let endPosLine ← fromJson? a[2]
-        let endPosCharacter ← fromJson? a[3]
-        if h' : a.size = 5 then
-          return {
-            startPosLine
-            startPosCharacter
-            endPosLine
-            endPosCharacter
-            parentDecl := ← fromJson? a[4]
-          }
-        else
-          return {
-            startPosLine
-            startPosCharacter
-            endPosLine
-            endPosCharacter
-            parentDecl := ""
-          }
-    let definition? ← j.getObjValAs? (Option $ Array Json) "definition"
-    let definition? ← match definition? with
-      | none => pure none
-      | some array => some <$> toLocation array
-    let usages ← j.getObjValAs? (Array $ Array Json) "usages"
-    let usages ← usages.mapM toLocation
-    pure { definition?, usages }
+  fromJson? j := (RefInfo.fromJsonWithParentDecls? j).run' ∅
 
 /-- References from a single module/file -/
 @[expose] def ModuleRefs := Std.TreeMap RefIdent RefInfo
@@ -288,11 +299,15 @@ instance : FromJson ModuleRefs where
     unless a.size % 2 = 0 do
       throw "expected even-length array"
     let mut m := {}
+    let mut parentDecls : Std.HashSet String := ∅
     for h : i in 0...(a.size / 2) do
       have : 2 * i + 1 < a.size := by
         have : i < a.size / 2 := h.2
         omega
-      m := m.insert (← RefIdent.fromJson? a[2 * i]) (← fromJson? a[2 * i + 1])
+      let ident ← RefIdent.fromJson? a[2 * i]
+      let (info, parentDecls') ← RefInfo.fromJsonWithParentDecls? a[2 * i + 1] parentDecls
+      parentDecls := parentDecls'
+      m := m.insert ident info
     return m
 
 /--
diff --git a/src/Lean/Server/References.lean b/src/Lean/Server/References.lean
index 6c4c9e842225..5d57419f2728 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Server/References.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Server/References.lean
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ def toLspRefInfo (i : RefInfo) : StateT Decls BaseIO Lsp.RefInfo := do
     if let some parentDeclNameString := parentDeclNameString? then
       if let some parentDeclInfo := parentDeclInfo? then
         modify (·.insert parentDeclNameString parentDeclInfo)
-    return .mk ref.range (parentDeclName?.map (·.toString))
+    return .mk ref.range parentDeclNameString?
   let definition? ← i.definition.mapM refToRefInfoLocation
   let usages ← i.usages.mapM refToRefInfoLocation
   return {
diff --git a/tests/elab/moduleRefsFromJson.lean b/tests/elab/moduleRefsFromJson.lean
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6cee5b6f8759
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/elab/moduleRefsFromJson.lean
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+import Lean.Data.Lsp.Internal
+
+open Lean Lsp
+
+deriving instance Inhabited for RefInfo.Location, RefInfo
+
+private def decodeJsonAs (α : Type) [FromJson α] (raw : String) : IO α := do
+  let j ← IO.ofExcept (Json.parse raw)
+  IO.ofExcept (fromJson? (α := α) j)
+
+private def decodeFails (α : Type) [FromJson α] (raw : String) : IO Bool := do
+  let j ← IO.ofExcept (Json.parse raw)
+  return (fromJson? (α := α) j).toOption.isNone
+
+unsafe def testModuleRefsAndRefInfoFromJson : IO Unit := do
+  -- 1. Standalone `FromJson RefInfo`: shares `parentDecl` across `definition` and `usages`,
+  --    preserves distinct `parentDecl` values, and supports 4-element locations.
+  let rawRefInfo :=
+    "{\"definition\":[1,0,1,3,\"MyNs.thmA\"]," ++
+    "\"usages\":[[2,1,2,4,\"MyNs.thmA\"],[3,2,3,5,\"MyNs.thmA\"],[4,0,4,3,\"MyNs.thmB\"],[5,0,5,2]]}"
+  let standaloneInfo ← decodeJsonAs RefInfo rawRefInfo
+  let defLoc := standaloneInfo.definition?.get!
+  let u0 := standaloneInfo.usages[0]!
+  let u1 := standaloneInfo.usages[1]!
+  let u2 := standaloneInfo.usages[2]!
+  let u3 := standaloneInfo.usages[3]!
+  assert! defLoc.parentDecl? == some "MyNs.thmA"
+  assert! u0.parentDecl? == some "MyNs.thmA"
+  assert! u1.parentDecl? == some "MyNs.thmA"
+  assert! u2.parentDecl? == some "MyNs.thmB"
+  assert! u3.parentDecl? == none
+  assert! ptrAddrUnsafe defLoc.parentDecl == ptrAddrUnsafe u0.parentDecl
+  assert! ptrAddrUnsafe u0.parentDecl == ptrAddrUnsafe u1.parentDecl
+  assert! Json.compress (toJson standaloneInfo) == rawRefInfo
+
+  -- 2. `FromJson ModuleRefs`: shares `parentDecl` within one `RefInfo`, across `definition` and
+  --    `usages`, and across different `RefIdent` entries (`const` and `fvar`), while preserving
+  --    distinct names, `definition := null`, empty `usages`, and 4-element locations.
+  let rawModuleRefs :=
+    "[[0,\"TestMod\",\"Nat.add\"]," ++
+      "{\"definition\":[1,0,1,7,\"MyNs.thmA\"]," ++
+       "\"usages\":[[10,2,10,5,\"MyNs.thmA\"],[11,4,11,7,\"MyNs.thmA\"],[12,1,12,4,\"MyNs.thmB\"],[15,0,15,3]]}," ++
+     "[0,\"TestMod\",\"Nat.mul\"]," ++
+      "{\"definition\":null," ++
+       "\"usages\":[[20,2,20,5,\"MyNs.thmA\"],[22,4,22,7,\"MyNs.thmB\"]]}," ++
+     "[1,\"TestMod\",\"fvar_1\"]," ++
+      "{\"definition\":[30,0,30,1,\"MyNs.thmB\"]," ++
+       "\"usages\":[]}]"
+  let refs ← decodeJsonAs ModuleRefs rawModuleRefs
+  let addInfo := refs.get! (.const "TestMod" "Nat.add")
+  let mulInfo := refs.get! (.const "TestMod" "Nat.mul")
+  let fvarInfo := refs.get! (.fvar "TestMod" "fvar_1")
+
+  let addDef := addInfo.definition?.get!
+  let addU0 := addInfo.usages[0]!
+  let addU1 := addInfo.usages[1]!
+  let addU2 := addInfo.usages[2]!
+  let addU3 := addInfo.usages[3]!
+  let mulU0 := mulInfo.usages[0]!
+  let mulU1 := mulInfo.usages[1]!
+  let fvarDef := fvarInfo.definition?.get!
+
+  -- Values and optional fields
+  assert! addDef.parentDecl? == some "MyNs.thmA"
+  assert! addU0.parentDecl? == some "MyNs.thmA"
+  assert! addU1.parentDecl? == some "MyNs.thmA"
+  assert! addU2.parentDecl? == some "MyNs.thmB"
+  assert! addU3.parentDecl? == none
+  assert! mulInfo.definition?.isNone
+  assert! mulU0.parentDecl? == some "MyNs.thmA"
+  assert! mulU1.parentDecl? == some "MyNs.thmB"
+  assert! fvarDef.parentDecl? == some "MyNs.thmB"
+  assert! fvarInfo.usages.isEmpty
+
+  -- Pointer sharing: within `RefInfo`, across `definition` and `usages`, and across `RefIdent`s
+  assert! ptrAddrUnsafe addDef.parentDecl == ptrAddrUnsafe addU0.parentDecl
+  assert! ptrAddrUnsafe addU0.parentDecl == ptrAddrUnsafe addU1.parentDecl
+  assert! ptrAddrUnsafe addDef.parentDecl == ptrAddrUnsafe mulU0.parentDecl
+  assert! ptrAddrUnsafe addU2.parentDecl == ptrAddrUnsafe mulU1.parentDecl
+  assert! ptrAddrUnsafe addU2.parentDecl == ptrAddrUnsafe fvarDef.parentDecl
+
+  -- Canonical round-trip equality
+  assert! Json.compress (toJson refs) == rawModuleRefs
+
+  -- 3. Explicit empty `parentDecl` in a 5-element location is accepted and normalized to 4 elements
+  let rawExplicitEmptyParent := "{\"definition\":[1,2,3,4,\"\"],\"usages\":[]}"
+  let emptyParentInfo ← decodeJsonAs RefInfo rawExplicitEmptyParent
+  assert! emptyParentInfo.definition?.get!.parentDecl? == none
+  assert! Json.compress (toJson emptyParentInfo) == "{\"definition\":[1,2,3,4],\"usages\":[]}"
+
+  -- 4. Malformed inputs are rejected
+  assert! (← decodeFails RefInfo "{\"definition\":[1,2,3],\"usages\":[]}")
+  assert! (← decodeFails RefInfo "{\"definition\":[1,2,3,4,\"a\",\"b\"],\"usages\":[]}")
+  assert! (← decodeFails RefInfo "{\"definition\":[1,2,3,4,99],\"usages\":[]}")
+  assert! (← decodeFails ModuleRefs "[[0,\"TestMod\",\"Nat.add\"]]")
+  assert! (← decodeFails ModuleRefs "{}")
+
+  IO.println "ok"
+
+/-- info: ok -/
+#guard_msgs in
+#eval testModuleRefsAndRefInfoFromJson