diff --git a/lib/gettext/extractor.ex b/lib/gettext/extractor.ex
index 46d78057..a29bf2a1 100644
--- a/lib/gettext/extractor.ex
+++ b/lib/gettext/extractor.ex
@@ -422,5 +422,5 @@ defmodule Gettext.Extractor do
     do: false
 
   defp protected?(%{references: refs}, pattern),
-    do: Enum.any?(refs, fn {path, _} -> Regex.match?(pattern, path) end)
+    do: refs |> List.flatten() |> Enum.any?(fn {path, _} -> Regex.match?(pattern, path) end)
 end
diff --git a/test/gettext/extractor_test.exs b/test/gettext/extractor_test.exs
index 60df837e..ba885825 100644
--- a/test/gettext/extractor_test.exs
+++ b/test/gettext/extractor_test.exs
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ defmodule Gettext.ExtractorTest do
       message_1 = %Message.Singular{
         msgid: ["foo"],
         msgstr: ["bar"],
-        references: [{"foo.ex", 1}],
+        references: [[{"foo.ex", 1}, {"bar.ex", 1}], [{"baz.ex", 1}]],
         flags: [["elixir-autogen", "elixir-format"]]
       }