diff --git a/db/instance.cpp b/db/instance.cpp
index e4ff204c0a0..e085532dc78 100644
--- a/db/instance.cpp
+++ b/db/instance.cpp
@@ -333,7 +333,6 @@ namespace mongo {
                         receivedDelete(m, currentOp);
                     }
                     else if ( op == dbKillCursors ) {
-                        mongolock lk(writeLock);
                         currentOp.ensureStarted();
                         logThreshold = 10;
                         ss << "killcursors ";
diff --git a/db/jsobj.cpp b/db/jsobj.cpp
index 27403516337..2b3359ceb6b 100644
--- a/db/jsobj.cpp
+++ b/db/jsobj.cpp
@@ -1140,7 +1140,10 @@ namespace mongo {
             
             if ( strchr( name , '.' ) ||
                  strchr( name , '$' ) ){
-                return false;
+                return 
+                    strcmp( name , "$ref" ) == 0 ||
+                    strcmp( name , "$id" ) == 0
+                    ;
             }
             
             if ( e.mayEncapsulate() ){
diff --git a/db/update.cpp b/db/update.cpp
index c75731317c1..d5f05d64e27 100644
--- a/db/update.cpp
+++ b/db/update.cpp
@@ -633,6 +633,9 @@ namespace mongo {
         int profile = cc().database()->profile;
         StringBuilder& ss = debug.str;
 
+        if ( logLevel > 2 )
+            ss << " update: " << updateobj;
+        
         /* idea with these here it to make them loop invariant for multi updates, and thus be a bit faster for that case */
         /* NOTE: when yield() is added herein, these must be refreshed after each call to yield! */
         NamespaceDetails *d = nsdetails(ns); // can be null if an upsert...
diff --git a/jstests/set6.js b/jstests/set6.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d41e7aba971
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jstests/set6.js
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+
+t = db.set6;
+t.drop();
+
+x = { _id : 1 , r : new DBRef( "foo" , new ObjectId() ) }
+t.insert( x )
+assert.eq( x , t.findOne() , "A" );
+
+x.r.$id = new ObjectId()
+t.update({}, { $set : { r : x.r } } );
+assert.eq( x , t.findOne() , "B");
+
+x.r2 = new DBRef( "foo2" , 5 )
+t.update( {} , { $set : { "r2" : x.r2 } } );
+assert.eq( x , t.findOne() , "C" )
+
+x.r.$id = 2;
+t.update( {} , { $set : { "r.$id" : 2 } } )
+assert.eq( x.r.$id , t.findOne().r.$id , "D");
+