diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/PhpNextgenClientCodegen.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/PhpNextgenClientCodegen.java
index 3c57a89f4ab..8136c9d3003 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/PhpNextgenClientCodegen.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/PhpNextgenClientCodegen.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import org.openapitools.codegen.model.ModelMap;
 import org.openapitools.codegen.model.ModelsMap;
 import org.openapitools.codegen.model.OperationMap;
 import org.openapitools.codegen.model.OperationsMap;
+import org.openapitools.codegen.utils.ModelUtils;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -198,7 +199,10 @@ public class PhpNextgenClientCodegen extends AbstractPhpCodegen {
 
     @Override
     public String toDefaultValue(CodegenProperty codegenProperty, Schema schema) {
+
         if (codegenProperty.isArray) {
+            schema = ModelUtils.getReferencedSchema(this.openAPI, schema);
+
             if (schema.getDefault() != null) { // array schema has default value
                 return "[" + schema.getDefault().toString() + "]";
             } else if (schema.getItems().getDefault() != null) { // array item schema has default value
diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/resources/3_0/php-nextgen/petstore-with-fake-endpoints-models-for-testing.yaml b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/resources/3_0/php-nextgen/petstore-with-fake-endpoints-models-for-testing.yaml
index 28b35f47071..433bd56071e 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/resources/3_0/php-nextgen/petstore-with-fake-endpoints-models-for-testing.yaml
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/resources/3_0/php-nextgen/petstore-with-fake-endpoints-models-for-testing.yaml
@@ -1660,6 +1660,8 @@ components:
           description: A string starting with 'image_' (case insensitive) and one to three digits following i.e. Image_01.
           type: string
           pattern: '/^image_\d{1,3}$/i'
+        array_ref:
+          $ref: '#/components/schemas/ArrayRef'
     EnumClass:
       type: string
       default: '-efg'
@@ -2061,3 +2063,7 @@ components:
       enum:
         - admin
         - user
+    ArrayRef:
+      type: array
+      items:
+        type: string
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/docs/Model/FormatTest.md b/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/docs/Model/FormatTest.md
index 81f6387a2ed..91e1f56e6b1 100644
--- a/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/docs/Model/FormatTest.md
+++ b/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/docs/Model/FormatTest.md
@@ -20,5 +20,6 @@ Name | Type | Description | Notes
 **password** | **string** |  |
 **pattern_with_digits** | **string** | A string that is a 10 digit number. Can have leading zeros. | [optional]
 **pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter** | **string** | A string starting with 'image_' (case insensitive) and one to three digits following i.e. Image_01. | [optional]
+**array_ref** | **string[]** |  | [optional]
 
 [[Back to Model list]](../../README.md#models) [[Back to API list]](../../README.md#endpoints) [[Back to README]](../../README.md)
diff --git a/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/src/Model/FormatTest.php b/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/src/Model/FormatTest.php
index 0da2bab5d01..bad4359dba5 100644
--- a/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/src/Model/FormatTest.php
+++ b/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/src/Model/FormatTest.php
@@ -73,7 +73,8 @@ class FormatTest implements ModelInterface, ArrayAccess, JsonSerializable
         'uuid' => 'string',
         'password' => 'string',
         'pattern_with_digits' => 'string',
-        'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter' => 'string'
+        'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter' => 'string',
+        'array_ref' => 'string[]'
     ];
 
     /**
@@ -97,7 +98,8 @@ class FormatTest implements ModelInterface, ArrayAccess, JsonSerializable
         'uuid' => 'uuid',
         'password' => 'password',
         'pattern_with_digits' => null,
-        'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter' => null
+        'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter' => null,
+        'array_ref' => null
     ];
 
     /**
@@ -121,7 +123,8 @@ class FormatTest implements ModelInterface, ArrayAccess, JsonSerializable
         'uuid' => false,
         'password' => false,
         'pattern_with_digits' => false,
-        'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter' => false
+        'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter' => false,
+        'array_ref' => false
     ];
 
     /**
@@ -225,7 +228,8 @@ class FormatTest implements ModelInterface, ArrayAccess, JsonSerializable
         'uuid' => 'uuid',
         'password' => 'password',
         'pattern_with_digits' => 'pattern_with_digits',
-        'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter' => 'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter'
+        'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter' => 'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter',
+        'array_ref' => 'array_ref'
     ];
 
     /**
@@ -249,7 +253,8 @@ class FormatTest implements ModelInterface, ArrayAccess, JsonSerializable
         'uuid' => 'setUuid',
         'password' => 'setPassword',
         'pattern_with_digits' => 'setPatternWithDigits',
-        'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter' => 'setPatternWithDigitsAndDelimiter'
+        'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter' => 'setPatternWithDigitsAndDelimiter',
+        'array_ref' => 'setArrayRef'
     ];
 
     /**
@@ -273,7 +278,8 @@ class FormatTest implements ModelInterface, ArrayAccess, JsonSerializable
         'uuid' => 'getUuid',
         'password' => 'getPassword',
         'pattern_with_digits' => 'getPatternWithDigits',
-        'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter' => 'getPatternWithDigitsAndDelimiter'
+        'pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter' => 'getPatternWithDigitsAndDelimiter',
+        'array_ref' => 'getArrayRef'
     ];
 
     /**
@@ -348,6 +354,7 @@ class FormatTest implements ModelInterface, ArrayAccess, JsonSerializable
         $this->setIfExists('password', $data ?? [], null);
         $this->setIfExists('pattern_with_digits', $data ?? [], null);
         $this->setIfExists('pattern_with_digits_and_delimiter', $data ?? [], null);
+        $this->setIfExists('array_ref', $data ?? [], null);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -957,6 +964,33 @@ class FormatTest implements ModelInterface, ArrayAccess, JsonSerializable
 
         return $this;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Gets array_ref
+     *
+     * @return string[]|null
+     */
+    public function getArrayRef(): ?array
+    {
+        return $this->container['array_ref'];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets array_ref
+     *
+     * @param string[]|null $array_ref array_ref
+     *
+     * @return $this
+     */
+    public function setArrayRef(?array $array_ref): static
+    {
+        if (is_null($array_ref)) {
+            throw new InvalidArgumentException('non-nullable array_ref cannot be null');
+        }
+        $this->container['array_ref'] = $array_ref;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
     /**
      * Returns true if offset exists. False otherwise.
      *