diff --git a/src/sms.c b/src/sms.c
index 088119d1..be9b8f5e 100644
--- a/src/sms.c
+++ b/src/sms.c
@@ -611,6 +611,7 @@ static DBusMessage *sms_send_message(DBusConnection *conn, DBusMessage *msg,
 	struct ofono_modem *modem;
 	unsigned int flags;
 	unsigned int msg_id;
+	gboolean use_16bit_ref = FALSE;
 
 	if (!dbus_message_get_args(msg, NULL, DBUS_TYPE_STRING, &to,
 					DBUS_TYPE_STRING, &text,
@@ -620,13 +621,13 @@ static DBusMessage *sms_send_message(DBusConnection *conn, DBusMessage *msg,
 	if (valid_phone_number_format(to) == FALSE)
 		return __ofono_error_invalid_format(msg);
 
-	msg_list = sms_text_prepare(text, 0, TRUE, &ref_offset,
+	msg_list = sms_text_prepare(text, 0, use_16bit_ref, &ref_offset,
 					sms->use_delivery_reports);
 
 	if (!msg_list)
 		return __ofono_error_invalid_format(msg);
 
-	set_ref_and_to(msg_list, sms->ref, ref_offset, TRUE, to);
+	set_ref_and_to(msg_list, sms->ref, ref_offset, use_16bit_ref, to);
 	DBG("ref: %d, offset: %d", sms->ref, ref_offset);
 
 	if (ref_offset != 0) {