Created attachment 36915 [details] Small sample workbook showing the error Hi, This is my first bug filed with Apache POI so apologies in advance if I fail to follow any standard procedure. When loading a workbook that contains a data validation with a direct reference to another sheet, the validation does not appear in POI. (Direct, being it's specified directly in the validation, versus using a defined name for the data range, which works fine) Pseudo code: wb = WorkbookFactory.create(new FileInputStream(new File("test.xlsx"))) sheet = wb.getSheetAt(wb.getActiveSheetIndex) validations = sheet.getDataValidations() In the sample document (attached) there are three validations for cells A1,A2 and A3 A1 references another sheet using a defined name. A2 references another sheet directly and A3 references a range in the same sheet. When loading the workbook in POI 4.1.1, The A1 and A3 validations show up, but no sign of A2.