diff --git a/src/check_jsonschema/schema_loader/main.py b/src/check_jsonschema/schema_loader/main.py
index 3b10c3b01..63c471934 100644
--- a/src/check_jsonschema/schema_loader/main.py
+++ b/src/check_jsonschema/schema_loader/main.py
@@ -100,8 +100,8 @@ def _get_schema_reader(self) -> LocalSchemaReader | HttpSchemaReader:
                 f"detected parsed URL had an unrecognized scheme: {self.url_info}"
             )
 
-    def get_schema_ref_base(self) -> str | None:
-        return self.reader.get_ref_base()
+    def get_schema_retrieval_uri(self) -> str | None:
+        return self.reader.get_retrieval_uri()
 
     def get_schema(self) -> dict[str, t.Any]:
         return self.reader.read_schema()
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ def get_validator(
         format_opts: FormatOptions,
         fill_defaults: bool,
     ) -> jsonschema.Validator:
-        schema_uri = self.get_schema_ref_base()
+        retrieval_uri = self.get_schema_retrieval_uri()
         schema = self.get_schema()
 
         schema_dialect = schema.get("$schema")
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ def get_validator(
 
         # reference resolution
         # with support for YAML, TOML, and other formats from the parsers
-        reference_registry = make_reference_registry(self._parsers, schema_uri, schema)
+        reference_registry = make_reference_registry(self._parsers, retrieval_uri, schema)
 
         # get the correct validator class and check the schema under its metaschema
         validator_cls = jsonschema.validators.validator_for(schema)
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ def __init__(self, schema_name: str) -> None:
         self.schema_name = schema_name
         self._parsers = ParserSet()
 
-    def get_schema_ref_base(self) -> str | None:
+    def get_schema_retrieval_uri(self) -> str | None:
         return None
 
     def get_schema(self) -> dict[str, t.Any]:
diff --git a/src/check_jsonschema/schema_loader/readers.py b/src/check_jsonschema/schema_loader/readers.py
index 98e24c011..c2e469781 100644
--- a/src/check_jsonschema/schema_loader/readers.py
+++ b/src/check_jsonschema/schema_loader/readers.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def __init__(self, filename: str) -> None:
         self.filename = str(self.path)
         self.parsers = ParserSet()
 
-    def get_ref_base(self) -> str:
+    def get_retrieval_uri(self) -> str:
         return self.path.as_uri()
 
     def _read_impl(self) -> t.Any:
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def __init__(
             validation_callback=json.loads,
         )
 
-    def get_ref_base(self) -> str:
+    def get_retrieval_uri(self) -> str:
         return self.url
 
     def _read_impl(self) -> t.Any:
diff --git a/src/check_jsonschema/schema_loader/resolver.py b/src/check_jsonschema/schema_loader/resolver.py
index 5d658eadc..b227b5da9 100644
--- a/src/check_jsonschema/schema_loader/resolver.py
+++ b/src/check_jsonschema/schema_loader/resolver.py
@@ -12,21 +12,25 @@
 
 
 def make_reference_registry(
-    parsers: ParserSet, schema_uri: str | None, schema: dict
+    parsers: ParserSet, retrieval_uri: str | None, schema: dict
 ) -> referencing.Registry:
+    id_attribute_: t.Any = schema.get("$id")
+    if isinstance(id_attribute_, str):
+        id_attribute: str | None = id_attribute_
+    else:
+        id_attribute = None
+
     schema_resource = referencing.Resource.from_contents(
         schema, default_specification=DRAFT202012
     )
     # mypy does not recognize that Registry is an `attrs` class and has `retrieve` as an
     # argument to its implicit initializer
     registry: referencing.Registry = referencing.Registry(  # type: ignore[call-arg]
-        retrieve=create_retrieve_callable(parsers, schema_uri)
+        retrieve=create_retrieve_callable(parsers, retrieval_uri, id_attribute)
     )
 
-    if schema_uri is not None:
-        registry = registry.with_resource(uri=schema_uri, resource=schema_resource)
-
-    id_attribute = schema.get("$id")
+    if retrieval_uri is not None:
+        registry = registry.with_resource(uri=retrieval_uri, resource=schema_resource)
     if id_attribute is not None:
         registry = registry.with_resource(uri=id_attribute, resource=schema_resource)
 
@@ -34,16 +38,20 @@ def make_reference_registry(
 
 
 def create_retrieve_callable(
-    parser_set: ParserSet, schema_uri: str | None
+    parser_set: ParserSet, retrieval_uri: str | None, id_attribute: str | None
 ) -> t.Callable[[str], referencing.Resource[Schema]]:
+    base_uri = id_attribute
+    if base_uri is None:
+        base_uri = retrieval_uri
+
     def get_local_file(uri: str) -> t.Any:
         path = filename2path(uri)
         return parser_set.parse_file(path, "json")
 
     def retrieve_reference(uri: str) -> referencing.Resource[Schema]:
         scheme = urllib.parse.urlsplit(uri).scheme
-        if scheme == "" and schema_uri is not None:
-            full_uri = urllib.parse.urljoin(schema_uri, uri)
+        if scheme == "" and base_uri is not None:
+            full_uri = urllib.parse.urljoin(base_uri, uri)
         else:
             full_uri = uri