diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatListRenderer.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatListRenderer.ts
index ad2d8e5564b..27e16b3f8b3 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatListRenderer.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatListRenderer.ts
@@ -800,11 +800,14 @@ export class ChatListItemRenderer extends Disposable implements ITreeRenderer<Ch
 	}
 
 	private renderContentReferencesIfNeeded(element: ChatTreeItem, templateData: IChatListItemTemplate, disposables: DisposableStore): void {
-		dom.clearNode(templateData.referencesListContainer);
 		if (isResponseVM(element) && this._usedReferencesEnabled && element.contentReferences.length) {
 			dom.show(templateData.referencesListContainer);
 			const contentReferencesListResult = this.renderContentReferencesListData(element.contentReferences, element, templateData);
-			templateData.referencesListContainer.appendChild(contentReferencesListResult.element);
+			if (templateData.referencesListContainer.firstChild) {
+				templateData.referencesListContainer.replaceChild(contentReferencesListResult.element, templateData.referencesListContainer.firstChild!);
+			} else {
+				templateData.referencesListContainer.appendChild(contentReferencesListResult.element);
+			}
 			disposables.add(contentReferencesListResult);
 		} else {
 			dom.hide(templateData.referencesListContainer);