diff --git a/deps/graph-parser/.carve/ignore b/deps/graph-parser/.carve/ignore
index f4f59687a..3c67be574 100644
--- a/deps/graph-parser/.carve/ignore
+++ b/deps/graph-parser/.carve/ignore
@@ -8,3 +8,5 @@ logseq.graph-parser.property/register-built-in-properties
 logseq.graph-parser.block/left-and-right-parens
 ;; API
 logseq.graph-parser.block/->block-ref
+;; API
+logseq.graph-parser.block/block-ref?
diff --git a/deps/graph-parser/src/logseq/graph_parser/block.cljs b/deps/graph-parser/src/logseq/graph_parser/block.cljs
index c3dc38dda..87143ed71 100644
--- a/deps/graph-parser/src/logseq/graph_parser/block.cljs
+++ b/deps/graph-parser/src/logseq/graph_parser/block.cljs
@@ -36,8 +36,31 @@
 (def right-parens "Closing characters for block-ref" "))")
 (def left-and-right-parens "Opening and closing characters for block-ref"
   (str left-parens right-parens))
+(def block-ref-re #"\(\(([a-fA-F0-9]{8}-[a-fA-F0-9]{4}-[a-fA-F0-9]{4}-[a-fA-F0-9]{4}-[a-fA-F0-9]{12})\)\)")
 
-(defn block-ref-string?
+(defn get-all-block-ref-ids
+  [content]
+  (map second (re-seq block-ref-re content)))
+
+(defn get-block-ref-id
+  "Extracts block id from block-ref using regex"
+  [s]
+  (second (re-matches block-ref-re s)))
+
+(defn get-string-block-ref-id
+  "Extracts block id from block-ref by stripping parens e.g. ((123)) -> 123.
+  This is a less strict version of get-block-ref-id"
+  [s]
+  (subs s 2 (- (count s) 2)))
+
+(defn block-ref?
+  "Determines if string is block ref using regex"
+  [s]
+  (boolean (get-block-ref-id s)))
+
+(defn string-block-ref?
+  "Determines if string is block ref by checking parens. This is less strict version
+of block-ref?"
   [s]
   (and (string/starts-with? s left-parens)
        (string/ends-with? s right-parens)))
@@ -47,11 +70,6 @@
   [block-id]
   (str left-parens block-id right-parens))
 
-(defn block-ref->block-id
-  "Extracts block id from block-ref string e.g. ((123)) -> 123."
-  [s]
-  (subs s 2 (- (count s) 2)))
-
 (defn- get-page-reference
   [block supported-formats]
   (let [page (cond
@@ -111,7 +129,7 @@
 
                :else
                nil)]
-    (text/block-ref-un-brackets! page)))
+    (when page (or (get-block-ref-id page) page))))
 
 (defn- get-block-reference
   [block]
@@ -131,8 +149,8 @@
                         (let [{:keys [name arguments]} (second block)]
                           (when (and (= name "embed")
                                      (string? (first arguments))
-                                     (block-ref-string? (first arguments)))
-                            (block-ref->block-id (first arguments))))
+                                     (string-block-ref? (first arguments)))
+                            (get-string-block-ref-id (first arguments))))
 
                         (and (vector? block)
                              (= "Link" (first block))
@@ -140,7 +158,9 @@
                         (if (= "id" (:protocol (second (:url (second block)))))
                           (:link (second (:url (second block))))
                           (let [id (second (:url (second block)))]
-                            (text/block-ref-un-brackets! id)))
+                            ;; these can be maps
+                            (when (string? id)
+                              (or (get-block-ref-id id) id))))
 
                         :else
                         nil)]
diff --git a/deps/graph-parser/src/logseq/graph_parser/text.cljs b/deps/graph-parser/src/logseq/graph_parser/text.cljs
index 20cc78794..0ac53be6a 100644
--- a/deps/graph-parser/src/logseq/graph_parser/text.cljs
+++ b/deps/graph-parser/src/logseq/graph_parser/text.cljs
@@ -34,17 +34,6 @@
    (string/starts-with? s "[[")
    (string/ends-with? s "]]")))
 
-(def block-ref-re #"\(\(([a-zA-z0-9]{8}-[a-zA-z0-9]{4}-[a-zA-z0-9]{4}-[a-zA-z0-9]{4}-[a-zA-z0-9]{12})\)\)")
-
-(defn get-block-ref
-  [s]
-  (and (string? s)
-       (second (re-matches block-ref-re s))))
-
-(defn block-ref?
-  [s]
-  (boolean (get-block-ref s)))
-
 (defonce page-ref-re #"\[\[(.*?)\]\]")
 
 (defonce page-ref-re-2 #"(\[\[.*?\]\])")
@@ -55,13 +44,6 @@
   [s]
   (or (get-page-name s) s))
 
-(defn block-ref-un-brackets!
-  [s]
-  (when (string? s)
-    (if (block-ref? s)
-      (subs s 2 (- (count s) 2))
-      s)))
-
 ;; E.g "Foo Bar"
 (defn sep-by-comma
   [s]
diff --git a/src/main/frontend/components/block.cljs b/src/main/frontend/components/block.cljs
index 4925e5894..a6cec58a2 100644
--- a/src/main/frontend/components/block.cljs
+++ b/src/main/frontend/components/block.cljs
@@ -930,8 +930,8 @@
          (not= \* (last s)))
     (->elem :a {:on-click #(route-handler/jump-to-anchor! (mldoc/anchorLink (subs s 1)))} (subs s 1))
 
-    (text/block-ref? s)
-    (let [id (text/get-block-ref s)]
+    (gp-block/block-ref? s)
+    (let [id (gp-block/get-block-ref-id s)]
       (block-reference config id label))
 
     (not (string/includes? s "."))
@@ -1120,8 +1120,8 @@
         (when-not (string/blank? page-name)
           (page-embed (assoc config :link-depth (inc link-depth)) page-name)))
 
-      (gp-block/block-ref-string? a)
-      (when-let [s (-> gp-block/block-ref->block-id string/trim)]
+      (gp-block/string-block-ref? a)
+      (when-let [s (-> gp-block/get-string-block-ref-id string/trim)]
         (when-let [id (some-> s parse-uuid)]
           (block-embed (assoc config :link-depth (inc link-depth)) id)))
 
@@ -2152,8 +2152,7 @@
         editor-id (str "editor-" edit-input-id)
         slide? (:slide? config)
         trimmed-content (string/trim (:block/content block))
-        block-reference-only? (and (gp-block/block-ref-string? trimmed-content)
-                                   (re-find (re-pattern util/uuid-pattern) trimmed-content))]
+        block-reference-only? (gp-block/block-ref? trimmed-content)]
     (if (and edit? editor-box)
       [:div.editor-wrapper {:id editor-id}
        (ui/catch-error
diff --git a/src/main/frontend/fs/watcher_handler.cljs b/src/main/frontend/fs/watcher_handler.cljs
index b27f2b4a5..9ff2b6807 100644
--- a/src/main/frontend/fs/watcher_handler.cljs
+++ b/src/main/frontend/fs/watcher_handler.cljs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
             [frontend.handler.repo :as repo-handler]
             [frontend.handler.ui :as ui-handler]
             [logseq.graph-parser.util :as gp-util]
-            [frontend.util.text :as text-util]
+            [logseq.graph-parser.block :as gp-block]
             [lambdaisland.glogi :as log]
             [electron.ipc :as ipc]
             [promesa.core :as p]
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 (defn- set-missing-block-ids!
   [content]
   (when (string? content)
-    (doseq [block-id (text-util/extract-all-block-refs content)]
+    (doseq [block-id (gp-block/get-all-block-ref-ids content)]
       (when-let [block (try
                          (model/get-block-by-uuid block-id)
                          (catch js/Error _e
diff --git a/src/main/frontend/handler/editor.cljs b/src/main/frontend/handler/editor.cljs
index e88bc9add..620db8c6d 100644
--- a/src/main/frontend/handler/editor.cljs
+++ b/src/main/frontend/handler/editor.cljs
@@ -1030,9 +1030,9 @@
                             (map (fn [{:keys [id level]}]
                                    (condp = (:block/format block)
                                      :org
-                                     (util/format (str (string/join (repeat level "*")) " ((%s))") id)
+                                     (str (string/join (repeat level "*")) " " (gp-block/->block-ref id))
                                      :markdown
-                                     (util/format (str (string/join (repeat (dec level) "\t")) "- ((%s))") id))))
+                                     (str (string/join (repeat (dec level) "\t")) "- " (gp-block/->block-ref id)))))
                             (string/join "\n\n"))]
       (set-blocks-id! (map :id blocks))
       (util/copy-to-clipboard! copy-str))))
@@ -1551,18 +1551,16 @@
                                                                  (when (>= prefix-pos 0)
                                                                    [(subs new-value prefix-pos (+ prefix-pos 2))
                                                                     (+ prefix-pos 2)]))})]
-        (case prefix
-          "[["
+        (cond
+          (= prefix "[[")
           (do
             (commands/handle-step [:editor/search-page])
             (state/set-editor-action-data! {:pos (cursor/get-caret-pos input)}))
 
-          gp-block/left-parens
+          (= prefix gp-block/left-parens)
           (do
             (commands/handle-step [:editor/search-block :reference])
-            (state/set-editor-action-data! {:pos (cursor/get-caret-pos input)}))
-
-          nil)))))
+            (state/set-editor-action-data! {:pos (cursor/get-caret-pos input)})))))))
 
 (defn surround-by?
   [input before end]
@@ -3425,7 +3423,8 @@
 (defn delete-current-ref!
   [block ref-id]
   (when (and block ref-id)
-    (let [match (re-pattern (str "\\s?" (util/format "\\(\\(%s\\)\\)" (str ref-id))))
+    (let [match (re-pattern (str "\\s?"
+                                 (string/replace (gp-block/->block-ref ref-id) #"([\(\)])" "\\$1")))
           content (string/replace-first (:block/content block) match "")]
       (save-block! (state/get-current-repo)
                    (:block/uuid block)
diff --git a/src/main/frontend/handler/export.cljs b/src/main/frontend/handler/export.cljs
index db04e9c87..efde8609f 100644
--- a/src/main/frontend/handler/export.cljs
+++ b/src/main/frontend/handler/export.cljs
@@ -189,9 +189,9 @@
                                                 (string/lower-case)))
                              (some-> (:arguments (second i))
                                      (first)
-                                     gp-block/block-ref-string?))
+                                     gp-block/string-block-ref?))
                         (let [arguments (:arguments (second i))
-                              block-uuid (gp-block/block-ref->block-id (first arguments))]
+                              block-uuid (gp-block/get-string-block-ref-id (first arguments))]
                           (conj! result block-uuid)
                           i)
                         :else
diff --git a/src/main/frontend/handler/paste.cljs b/src/main/frontend/handler/paste.cljs
index 130e30d81..9e640030e 100644
--- a/src/main/frontend/handler/paste.cljs
+++ b/src/main/frontend/handler/paste.cljs
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
             ["/frontend/utils" :as utils]
             [frontend.commands :as commands]
             [cljs.core.match :refer [match]]
-            [logseq.graph-parser.text :as text]
             [frontend.handler.notification :as notification]
             [frontend.util.text :as text-util]
             [frontend.format.mldoc :as mldoc]
@@ -81,9 +80,9 @@
                (not (string/blank? (util/get-selected-text))))
           (editor-handler/html-link-format! text)
 
-          (and (text/block-ref? text)
+          (and (gp-block/block-ref? text)
                (editor-handler/wrapped-by? input gp-block/left-parens gp-block/right-parens))
-          (commands/simple-insert! (state/get-edit-input-id) (text/get-block-ref text) nil)
+          (commands/simple-insert! (state/get-edit-input-id) (gp-block/get-block-ref-id text) nil)
 
           :else
           ;; from external
diff --git a/src/main/frontend/util/text.cljs b/src/main/frontend/util/text.cljs
index 95a2500e9..0e0d31ad9 100644
--- a/src/main/frontend/util/text.cljs
+++ b/src/main/frontend/util/text.cljs
@@ -122,7 +122,3 @@
             (string/join "/" parts)
             (last parts))
           js/decodeURI))))
-
-(defn extract-all-block-refs
-  [content]
-  (map second (re-seq #"\(\(([a-fA-F0-9]{8}-[a-fA-F0-9]{4}-[a-fA-F0-9]{4}-[a-fA-F0-9]{4}-[a-fA-F0-9]{12})\)\)" content)))