diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9e91f5ae991..c83a4906cc2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ Note that this project **does not** adhere to [Semantic Versioning](https://semv
 - The last page of a PDF is now indexed by the full text search. [#10193](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/issues/10193)
 - We fixed an issue where the duplicate check did not take umlauts or other LaTeX-encoded characters into account. [#10744](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/pull/10744)
 - We fixed the colors of the icon on hover for unset special fields. [#10431](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/issues/10431)
+- We fixed an issue where the CrossRef field did not work if autocompletion was disabled [#8145](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/issues/8145)
 
 ### Removed
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/LibraryTab.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/LibraryTab.java
index ea00153a7a4..66b1c4588ec 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/LibraryTab.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/LibraryTab.java
@@ -568,8 +568,8 @@ private void setupAutoCompletion() {
         if (autoCompletePreferences.shouldAutoComplete()) {
             suggestionProviders = new SuggestionProviders(getDatabase(), Globals.journalAbbreviationRepository, autoCompletePreferences);
         } else {
-            // Create empty suggestion providers if auto-completion is deactivated
-            suggestionProviders = new SuggestionProviders();
+            // Create suggestion providers with database for crossref if auto-completion is deactivated
+            suggestionProviders = new SuggestionProviders(getDatabase());
         }
         searchAutoCompleter = new PersonNameSuggestionProvider(FieldFactory.getPersonNameFields(), getDatabase());
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/autocompleter/SuggestionProviders.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/autocompleter/SuggestionProviders.java
index 06d2abef8a8..7d023f4d815 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/autocompleter/SuggestionProviders.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/autocompleter/SuggestionProviders.java
@@ -22,12 +22,21 @@ public SuggestionProviders(BibDatabase database, JournalAbbreviationRepository a
         this.isEmpty = false;
     }
 
+    public SuggestionProviders(BibDatabase database) {
+        this.database = database;
+        this.isEmpty = true;
+    }
+
     public SuggestionProviders() {
         this.isEmpty = true;
     }
 
     public SuggestionProvider<?> getForField(Field field) {
         if (isEmpty || !autoCompletePreferences.getCompleteFields().contains(field)) {
+            Set<FieldProperty> fieldProperties = field.getProperties();
+            if (fieldProperties.contains(FieldProperty.SINGLE_ENTRY_LINK)) {
+                return new BibEntrySuggestionProvider(database);
+            }
             return new EmptySuggestionProvider();
         }