diff --git a/packages/sanity/src/core/preview/availability.ts b/packages/sanity/src/core/preview/availability.ts
index cb5bfaf0218..f79ce5cb254 100644
--- a/packages/sanity/src/core/preview/availability.ts
+++ b/packages/sanity/src/core/preview/availability.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import {combineLatest, defer, from, type Observable, of} from 'rxjs'
 import {distinctUntilChanged, map, mergeMap, reduce, switchMap} from 'rxjs/operators'
 import shallowEquals from 'shallow-equals'
 
-import {createSWR, getDraftId, getPublishedId, getVersionId, isRecord, isVersionId} from '../util'
+import {createSWR, getDraftId, getPublishedId, getVersionId, isRecord} from '../util'
 import {
   AVAILABILITY_NOT_FOUND,
   AVAILABILITY_PERMISSION_DENIED,
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ export function createPreviewAvailabilityObserver(
   ): Observable<DraftsModelDocumentAvailability> {
     const draftId = getDraftId(id)
     const publishedId = getPublishedId(id)
-    const versionId = isVersionId(id) && version ? getVersionId(id, version) : undefined
+    const versionId = version ? getVersionId(id, version) : undefined
     return combineLatest([
       observeDocumentAvailability(draftId),
       observeDocumentAvailability(publishedId),
diff --git a/packages/sanity/src/core/validation/validateDocumentWithReferences.ts b/packages/sanity/src/core/validation/validateDocumentWithReferences.ts
index 2b52c2ab5e8..5ebb2f3fb99 100644
--- a/packages/sanity/src/core/validation/validateDocumentWithReferences.ts
+++ b/packages/sanity/src/core/validation/validateDocumentWithReferences.ts
@@ -29,11 +29,17 @@ import {
   shareReplay,
   skip,
   throttleTime,
+  withLatestFrom,
 } from 'rxjs/operators'
 import {exhaustMapWithTrailing} from 'rxjs-exhaustmap-with-trailing'
 import shallowEquals from 'shallow-equals'
 
-import {type DocumentPreviewStore, type LocaleSource, type SourceClientOptions} from '..'
+import {
+  type DocumentPreviewStore,
+  getVersionFromId,
+  type LocaleSource,
+  type SourceClientOptions,
+} from '..'
 import {validateDocumentObservable} from './validateDocument'
 
 /**
@@ -70,8 +76,11 @@ type GetDocumentExists = NonNullable<ValidationContext['getDocumentExists']>
 const listenDocumentExists = (
   observeDocumentAvailability: DocumentPreviewStore['unstable_observeDocumentPairAvailability'],
   id: string,
+  versionId: string | undefined,
 ): Observable<boolean> =>
-  observeDocumentAvailability(id).pipe(map(({published}) => published.available))
+  observeDocumentAvailability(id, {version: versionId}).pipe(
+    map(({published, version}) => published.available || version?.available || false),
+  )
 
 // throttle delay for referenced document updates (i.e. time between responding to changes in referenced documents)
 const REF_UPDATE_DELAY = 1000
@@ -98,14 +107,19 @@ export function validateDocumentWithReferences(
     mergeMap((ids) => from(ids)),
   )
 
+  const versionId$ = document$.pipe(
+    map((doc) => getVersionFromId(doc?._id || '')),
+    distinctUntilChanged(),
+  )
   // Note: we only use this to trigger a re-run of validation when a referenced document is published/unpublished
   const referenceExistence$ = referenceIds$.pipe(
     groupBy((id) => id, {duration: () => timer(1000 * 60 * 30)}),
     mergeMap((id$) =>
       id$.pipe(
         distinct(),
-        mergeMap((id) =>
-          listenDocumentExists(ctx.observeDocumentPairAvailability, id).pipe(
+        withLatestFrom(versionId$),
+        mergeMap(([id, versionId]) =>
+          listenDocumentExists(ctx.observeDocumentPairAvailability, id, versionId).pipe(
             map(
               // eslint-disable-next-line max-nested-callbacks
               (result) => [id, result] as const,