diff --git a/__mocks__/__tests__/gatsby-plugin-firebase.test.js b/__mocks__/__tests__/gatsby-plugin-firebase.test.js
index cb979bcc..84e0a9ca 100644
--- a/__mocks__/__tests__/gatsby-plugin-firebase.test.js
+++ b/__mocks__/__tests__/gatsby-plugin-firebase.test.js
@@ -74,17 +74,31 @@ describe('FirebaseStub', () => {
       expect(database1.uuid).toEqual(database2.uuid);
     });
 
-    it('reuses existing Reference instance', () => {
-      const ref1 = FirebaseStub.database().ref(
-        `${DatabaseConstants.resumesPath}/123`,
-      );
-      const ref2 = FirebaseStub.database().ref(
-        `${DatabaseConstants.resumesPath}/123`,
-      );
+    describe('ref function', () => {
+      it('reuses existing Reference instance', () => {
+        const ref1 = FirebaseStub.database().ref(
+          `${DatabaseConstants.resumesPath}/123`,
+        );
+        const ref2 = FirebaseStub.database().ref(
+          `${DatabaseConstants.resumesPath}/123`,
+        );
 
-      expect(ref1.uuid).toBeTruthy();
-      expect(ref2.uuid).toBeTruthy();
-      expect(ref1.uuid).toEqual(ref2.uuid);
+        expect(ref1).toBeTruthy();
+        expect(ref2).toBeTruthy();
+        expect(ref1).toEqual(ref2);
+      });
+
+      it('leading slash in reference path is ignored', () => {
+        const path = `${DatabaseConstants.resumesPath}/123`;
+
+        const ref1 = FirebaseStub.database().ref(path);
+        expect(ref1).toBeTruthy();
+        expect(ref1.path).toEqual(path);
+
+        const ref2 = FirebaseStub.database().ref(`/${path}`);
+        expect(ref2).toBeTruthy();
+        expect(ref2).toEqual(ref1);
+      });
     });
 
     it('ServerValue.TIMESTAMP returns current time in milliseconds', () => {
diff --git a/__mocks__/gatsby-plugin-firebase/constants/database.js b/__mocks__/gatsby-plugin-firebase/constants/database.js
index 6ea40ad8..6f4fbe5d 100644
--- a/__mocks__/gatsby-plugin-firebase/constants/database.js
+++ b/__mocks__/gatsby-plugin-firebase/constants/database.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ const childRemovedEventType = 'child_removed';
 
 const resumesPath = 'resumes';
 const usersPath = 'users';
-const connectedPath = '/.info/connected';
+const connectedPath = '.info/connected';
 
 const demoStateResume1Id = 'demo_1';
 const demoStateResume2Id = 'demo_2';
diff --git a/__mocks__/gatsby-plugin-firebase/database/database.js b/__mocks__/gatsby-plugin-firebase/database/database.js
index b6fcbdcb..69125d2d 100644
--- a/__mocks__/gatsby-plugin-firebase/database/database.js
+++ b/__mocks__/gatsby-plugin-firebase/database/database.js
@@ -135,18 +135,19 @@ class Database {
   }
 
   ref(referencePath) {
-    const existingRef = this._getReference(referencePath);
-    if (existingRef) {
-      existingRef.initializeQueryParameters();
-      return existingRef;
-    }
-
     const newRef = new Reference(
       referencePath,
       (dataPath) => this._getData(dataPath),
       (dataPath, value) => this._setData(dataPath, value),
       (refPath) => this._getReference(refPath),
     );
+
+    const existingRef = this._getReference(newRef.path);
+    if (existingRef) {
+      existingRef.initializeQueryParameters();
+      return existingRef;
+    }
+
     this._references[newRef.path] = newRef;
     return newRef;
   }
diff --git a/__mocks__/gatsby-plugin-firebase/database/reference.js b/__mocks__/gatsby-plugin-firebase/database/reference.js
index 8d7d5c74..18e5d75c 100644
--- a/__mocks__/gatsby-plugin-firebase/database/reference.js
+++ b/__mocks__/gatsby-plugin-firebase/database/reference.js
@@ -5,15 +5,25 @@ import { debounce } from 'lodash';
 import DatabaseConstants from '../constants/database';
 import DataSnapshot from './dataSnapshot';
 
+const parsePath = (path) => {
+  if (!path) {
+    throw new Error('path must be provided.');
+  } else if (typeof path !== 'string') {
+    throw new Error('path should be a string.');
+  } else {
+    let parsedPath = path.trim();
+
+    if (parsedPath[0] === '/') {
+      parsedPath = parsedPath.substring(1);
+    }
+
+    return parsedPath;
+  }
+};
+
 class Reference {
   constructor(path, getDatabaseData, setDatabaseData, getReference) {
-    if (!path) {
-      throw new Error('path must be provided.');
-    } else if (typeof path !== 'string') {
-      throw new Error('path should be a string.');
-    } else {
-      this._path = path;
-    }
+    this._path = parsePath(path);
 
     this._uuid = uuidv4();