diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index c5619e9b4..86c5d1c78 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name = "Mooncake"
 uuid = "da2b9cff-9c12-43a0-ae48-6db2b0edb7d6"
 authors = ["Will Tebbutt, Hong Ge, and contributors"]
-version = "0.4.72"
+version = "0.4.73"
 
 [deps]
 ADTypes = "47edcb42-4c32-4615-8424-f2b9edc5f35b"
diff --git a/src/interpreter/s2s_reverse_mode_ad.jl b/src/interpreter/s2s_reverse_mode_ad.jl
index 7398a1dbd..d8a55b615 100644
--- a/src/interpreter/s2s_reverse_mode_ad.jl
+++ b/src/interpreter/s2s_reverse_mode_ad.jl
@@ -253,38 +253,25 @@ get_rev_data_id(::ADInfo, ::Any) = nothing
 """
     reverse_data_ref_stmts(info::ADInfo)
 
-Create the statements which initialise the reverse-data `Ref`s.
+Create the `:new` statements which initialise the reverse-data `Ref`s. Interpolates the
+initial rdata directly into the statement, which is safe because it is always a bits type.
 """
 function reverse_data_ref_stmts(info::ADInfo)
+    function make_ref_stmt(id, P)
+        ref_type = Base.RefValue{P <: Type ? NoRData : zero_like_rdata_type(P)}
+        init_ref_val = P <: Type ? NoRData() : Mooncake.zero_like_rdata_from_type(P)
+        return (id, new_inst(Expr(:new, ref_type, QuoteNode(init_ref_val))))
+    end
     return vcat(
         map(collect(info.arg_rdata_ref_ids)) do (k, id)
-            (id, new_inst(Expr(:call, __make_ref, CC.widenconst(info.arg_types[k]))))
+            return make_ref_stmt(id, CC.widenconst(info.arg_types[k]))
         end,
         map(collect(info.ssa_rdata_ref_ids)) do (k, id)
-            (id, new_inst(Expr(:call, __make_ref, CC.widenconst(info.ssa_insts[k].type))))
+            return make_ref_stmt(id, CC.widenconst(info.ssa_insts[k].type))
         end,
     )
 end
 
-"""
-    __make_ref(p::Type{P}) where {P}
-
-Helper for [`reverse_data_ref_stmts`](@ref). Constructs a `Ref` whose element type is the
-[`zero_like_rdata_type`](@ref) for `P`, and whose element is the zero-like rdata for `P`.
-"""
-@inline function __make_ref(p::Type{P}) where {P}
-    _P = @isdefined(P) ? P : _typeof(p)
-    return Ref{zero_like_rdata_type(_P)}(Mooncake.zero_like_rdata_from_type(_P))
-end
-
-# This specialised method is necessary to ensure that `__make_ref` works properly for
-# `DataType`s with unbound type parameters. See `TestResources.typevar_tester` for an
-# example. The above method requires that `P` be a type in which all parameters are fully-
-# bound. Strange errors occur if this property does not hold.
-@inline __make_ref(::Type{<:Type}) = Ref{NoRData}(NoRData())
-
-@inline __make_ref(::Type{Union{}}) = nothing
-
 # Returns the number of arguments that the primal function has.
 num_args(info::ADInfo) = length(info.arg_types)