diff --git a/plugins/devkit/devkit-core/resources/META-INF/plugin.xml b/plugins/devkit/devkit-core/resources/META-INF/plugin.xml
index 94ae05263527..de193806acde 100644
--- a/plugins/devkit/devkit-core/resources/META-INF/plugin.xml
+++ b/plugins/devkit/devkit-core/resources/META-INF/plugin.xml
@@ -241,7 +241,9 @@
     <psi.referenceContributor
         language="XML"
         implementation="org.jetbrains.idea.devkit.references.PluginDescriptorXIncludeReferenceContributor"/>
-    <psi.fileReferenceHelper implementation="org.jetbrains.idea.devkit.references.PluginDescriptorXIncludeFileReferenceHelper"/>
+    <psi.fileReferenceHelper
+        order="first"
+        implementation="org.jetbrains.idea.devkit.references.PluginDescriptorXIncludeFileReferenceHelper"/>
 
     <!-- must be before SubstringConsoleFolding to be able to fold the entire stacktrace -->
     <console.folding order="first" implementation="com.intellij.testFramework.FailedTestDebugLogConsoleFolding"/>