diff --git a/node_reference/node_reference.module b/node_reference/node_reference.module
index b63efb8..accb841 100644
--- a/node_reference/node_reference.module
+++ b/node_reference/node_reference.module
@@ -220,7 +220,6 @@ function node_reference_field_prepare_view($entity_type, $entities, $field, $ins
     $ids_to_check = array_diff($ids, array_keys($checked_ids));
     if (!empty($ids_to_check)) {
       $query = db_select('node', 'n')
-        ->addTag('node_access')
         ->addMetaData('id', 'node_reference_field_prepare_view')
         ->addMetaData('field', $field)
         ->fields('n', array('nid'))
@@ -250,7 +249,9 @@ function node_reference_field_prepare_view($entity_type, $entities, $field, $ins
 
       // Populate our static list so that we do not query on those ids again.
       foreach ($ids_to_check as $id) {
-        $checked_ids[$id] = isset($accessible_ids[$id]);
+        if (node_access('view', node_load($id))) {
+          $checked_ids[$id] = isset($accessible_ids[$id]);
+        }
       }
     }
 
@@ -634,8 +635,7 @@ function node_reference_autocomplete_value($element, $input = FALSE, $form_state
     if (!empty($nid)) {
       $q = db_select('node', 'n');
       $node_title_alias = $q->addField('n', 'title');
-      $q->addTag('node_access')
-        ->condition('n.nid', $nid)
+      $q->condition('n.nid', $nid)
         ->range(0, 1);
       $result = $q->execute();
       // @todo If no result (node doesn't exist or no access).
@@ -837,8 +837,7 @@ function _node_reference_potential_references_standard($field, $options) {
   $node_nid_alias   = $query->addField('n', 'nid');
   $node_title_alias = $query->addField('n', 'title', 'node_title');
   $node_type_alias  = $query->addField('n', 'type',  'node_type');
-  $query->addTag('node_access')
-    ->addMetaData('id', ' _node_reference_potential_references_standard')
+  $query->addMetaData('id', ' _node_reference_potential_references_standard')
     ->addMetaData('field', $field)
     ->addMetaData('options', $options);
 
@@ -878,10 +877,12 @@ function _node_reference_potential_references_standard($field, $options) {
   $result = $query->execute()->fetchAll();
   $references = array();
   foreach ($result as $node) {
-    $references[$node->nid] = array(
-      'title'    => $node->node_title,
-      'rendered' => check_plain($node->node_title),
-    );
+    if (node_access('view',node_load($node->nid))) {
+      $references[$node->nid] = array(
+        'title'    => $node->node_title,
+        'rendered' => check_plain($node->node_title),
+      );
+    }
   }
   return $references;
 }