diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/utils/ModelUtils.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/utils/ModelUtils.java
index 4c3e9fe01180..8afa415286bf 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/utils/ModelUtils.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/utils/ModelUtils.java
@@ -41,8 +41,10 @@
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;
 
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.math.BigDecimal;
 import java.net.URI;
+import java.net.URLDecoder;
 import java.util.*;
 import java.util.Map.Entry;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
@@ -71,7 +73,7 @@ public class ModelUtils {
         JSON_MAPPER = ObjectMapperFactory.createJson();
         YAML_MAPPER = ObjectMapperFactory.createYaml();
     }
-    
+
     public static void setDisallowAdditionalPropertiesIfNotPresent(boolean value) {
         GlobalSettings.setProperty(disallowAdditionalPropertiesIfNotPresent, Boolean.toString(value));
     }
@@ -386,6 +388,18 @@ public static String getSimpleRef(String ref) {
 
         }
 
+        try {
+            ref = URLDecoder.decode(ref, "UTF-8");
+        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException ignored) {
+        }
+
+        // see https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6901#section-3
+        // Because the characters '~' (%x7E) and '/' (%x2F) have special meanings in
+        // JSON Pointer, '~' needs to be encoded as '~0' and '/' needs to be encoded 
+        // as '~1' when these characters appear in a reference token.
+        // This reverses that encoding.
+        ref = ref.replace("~1", "/").replace("~0", "~");
+
         return ref;
     }
 
@@ -1077,7 +1091,7 @@ public static Schema unaliasSchema(OpenAPI openAPI,
 
     /**
      * Returns the additionalProperties Schema for the specified input schema.
-     * 
+     *
      * The additionalProperties keyword is used to control the handling of additional, undeclared
      * properties, that is, properties whose names are not listed in the properties keyword.
      * The additionalProperties keyword may be either a boolean or an object.
@@ -1085,7 +1099,7 @@ public static Schema unaliasSchema(OpenAPI openAPI,
      * By default when the additionalProperties keyword is not specified in the input schema,
      * any additional properties are allowed. This is equivalent to setting additionalProperties
      * to the boolean value True or setting additionalProperties: {}
-     * 
+     *
      * @param openAPI the object that encapsulates the OAS document.
      * @param schema the input schema that may or may not have the additionalProperties keyword.
      * @return the Schema of the additionalProperties. The null value is returned if no additional
@@ -1141,7 +1155,7 @@ public static Schema getAdditionalProperties(OpenAPI openAPI, Schema schema) {
         }
         return null;
     }
-    
+
     public static Header getReferencedHeader(OpenAPI openAPI, Header header) {
         if (header != null && StringUtils.isNotEmpty(header.get$ref())) {
             String name = getSimpleRef(header.get$ref());
@@ -1478,12 +1492,12 @@ private static ObjectMapper getRightMapper(String data) {
 
     /**
      * Parse and return a JsonNode representation of the input OAS document.
-     * 
+     *
      * @param location the URL of the OAS document.
      * @param auths the list of authorization values to access the remote URL.
-     * 
+     *
      * @throws java.lang.Exception if an error occurs while retrieving the OpenAPI document.
-     * 
+     *
      * @return A JsonNode representation of the input OAS document.
      */
     public static JsonNode readWithInfo(String location, List<AuthorizationValue> auths) throws Exception {
@@ -1511,14 +1525,14 @@ public static JsonNode readWithInfo(String location, List<AuthorizationValue> au
     /**
      * Parse the OAS document at the specified location, get the swagger or openapi version
      * as specified in the source document, and return the version.
-     * 
+     *
      * For OAS 2.0 documents, return the value of the 'swagger' attribute.
      * For OAS 3.x documents, return the value of the 'openapi' attribute.
-     * 
+     *
      * @param openAPI the object that encapsulates the OAS document.
      * @param location the URL of the OAS document.
      * @param auths the list of authorization values to access the remote URL.
-     * 
+     *
      * @return the version of the OpenAPI document.
      */
     public static SemVer getOpenApiVersion(OpenAPI openAPI, String location, List<AuthorizationValue> auths) {
diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/utils/ModelUtilsTest.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/utils/ModelUtilsTest.java
index 221f13a70045..70b63d68b2a8 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/utils/ModelUtilsTest.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/utils/ModelUtilsTest.java
@@ -271,4 +271,10 @@ public void testIsSetFailsForNullSchema() {
         ArraySchema as = null;
         Assert.assertFalse(ModelUtils.isSet(as));
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSimpleRefDecoding() {
+        String decoded = ModelUtils.getSimpleRef("#/components/~01%20Hallo~1Welt");
+        Assert.assertEquals(decoded, "~1 Hallo/Welt");
+    }
+}