diff --git a/lib/src/cache_manager.dart b/lib/src/cache_manager.dart
index 7c3a0e3..4846ba1 100644
--- a/lib/src/cache_manager.dart
+++ b/lib/src/cache_manager.dart
@@ -89,8 +89,8 @@ class FirebaseImageCacheManager {
       whereArgs: [uri],
     );
     if (maps.length > 0) {
-      FirebaseImageObject returnObject =
-          FirebaseImageObject.fromMap(maps.first);
+      FirebaseImageObject returnObject = FirebaseImageObject.fromMap(
+          maps.first); // Nullsafety error (reference is null)
       returnObject.reference = getImageRef(returnObject, image.firebaseApp);
       if (CacheRefreshStrategy.BY_METADATA_DATE == this.cacheRefreshStrategy) {
         checkForUpdate(returnObject, image); // Check for update in background
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ class FirebaseImageCacheManager {
 
   Future<void> checkForUpdate(
       FirebaseImageObject object, FirebaseImage image) async {
-    int remoteVersion = (await object.reference.getMetadata())
+    int remoteVersion = (await object.reference!.getMetadata())
             .updated
             ?.millisecondsSinceEpoch ??
         -1;
@@ -142,13 +142,13 @@ class FirebaseImageCacheManager {
 
   Future<Uint8List?> remoteFileBytes(
       FirebaseImageObject object, int maxSizeBytes) {
-    return object.reference.getData(maxSizeBytes);
+    return object.reference!.getData(maxSizeBytes);
   }
 
   Future<Uint8List?> upsertRemoteFileToCache(
       FirebaseImageObject object, int maxSizeBytes) async {
     if (CacheRefreshStrategy.BY_METADATA_DATE == this.cacheRefreshStrategy) {
-      object.version = (await object.reference.getMetadata())
+      object.version = (await object.reference!.getMetadata())
               .updated
               ?.millisecondsSinceEpoch ??
           0;
diff --git a/lib/src/image_object.dart b/lib/src/image_object.dart
index 95fc97e..73e33fd 100644
--- a/lib/src/image_object.dart
+++ b/lib/src/image_object.dart
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import 'package:firebase_storage/firebase_storage.dart';
 
 class FirebaseImageObject {
   int version;
-  Reference reference;
+  Reference? reference;
   String? localPath;
   final String remotePath;
   final String bucket;