diff --git a/vulnerabilities/pipelines/enhance_with_exploitdb.py b/vulnerabilities/pipelines/enhance_with_exploitdb.py
index 70f7b4886..ba41431fa 100644
--- a/vulnerabilities/pipelines/enhance_with_exploitdb.py
+++ b/vulnerabilities/pipelines/enhance_with_exploitdb.py
@@ -128,13 +128,16 @@ def add_exploit_references(ref_id, direct_url, path, vul_id, logger):
         "direct_url": direct_url,
     }
 
+    MAX_REF_LEN = 200
+    safe_ref_id = ref_id[:MAX_REF_LEN] if ref_id else ref_id
+
     for key, url in url_map.items():
         if url:
             try:
                 ref, created = VulnerabilityReference.objects.update_or_create(
                     url=url,
                     defaults={
-                        "reference_id": ref_id,
+                        "reference_id": safe_ref_id,
                         "reference_type": VulnerabilityReference.EXPLOIT,
                     },
                 )