diff --git a/src/DefinitionGenerator.ts b/src/DefinitionGenerator.ts
index 779c749..da12087 100644
--- a/src/DefinitionGenerator.ts
+++ b/src/DefinitionGenerator.ts
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ export class DefinitionGenerator {
     }
 
     this.definition.components.schemas = await parseModels(models, this.root);
-
+    this.config.models = _.values(this.definition.components.schemas);
     return this;
   }
 
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ export class DefinitionGenerator {
     // loop through function configurations
     for (const funcConfig of config) {
       // loop through http events
-      for (const httpEvent of this.getHttpEvents(funcConfig.events)) {
+      for (const httpEvent of this.getHttpEvents(funcConfig.events || [])) {
         const httpEventConfig = httpEvent.http;
 
         if (httpEventConfig.documentation) {
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ export class DefinitionGenerator {
     return responses;
   }
 
-  private getResponseContent(response) {
+  private getResponseContent(response ={}) {
     const content = {};
 
     for (const responseKey of Object.keys(response)) {
diff --git a/src/__tests__/DefinitionGeneratorSwagger2Syntax.spec.ts b/src/__tests__/DefinitionGeneratorSwagger2Syntax.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..37fd6b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/__tests__/DefinitionGeneratorSwagger2Syntax.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+import _ = require("lodash");
+import * as path from "path";
+import * as Serverless from "serverless";
+import { DefinitionGenerator } from "../DefinitionGenerator";
+
+class ServerlessInterface extends Serverless {
+  public service: any = {};
+  public config: any = {};
+  public yamlParser: any = {};
+  public pluginManager: any = {};
+  public variables: any = {};
+}
+
+describe("OpenAPI Documentation Generator", () => {
+  let sls: ServerlessInterface;
+
+  const servicePath = path.join(__dirname, "../../test/project-swagger-2.0");
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    const serverlessYamlPath = path.join(servicePath, "./serverless.yml");
+    sls = new Serverless();
+
+    sls.config.update({
+      servicePath
+    });
+
+    const config = await sls.yamlParser.parse(serverlessYamlPath);
+    sls.pluginManager.cliOptions = { stage: "dev" };
+
+    await sls.service.load(config);
+    await sls.variables.populateService();
+
+    if (!("documentation" in sls.service.custom)) {
+      throw new Error(
+        'Cannot find "documentation" in custom section of "serverless.yml"'
+      );
+    }
+  });
+
+
+  it("resolves the DTOs recursively using the swagger 2.0 spec : $ref: {{model: OtherDTO}}", async () => {
+    const docGen = new DefinitionGenerator(
+      sls.service.custom.documentation,
+      servicePath
+    );
+
+    // implementation copied from ServerlessOpenApiDocumentation.ts
+    await docGen.parse();
+
+    const funcConfigs = sls.service.getAllFunctions().map(functionName => {
+      const func = sls.service.getFunction(functionName);
+      return _.merge({ _functionName: functionName }, func);
+    });
+
+    docGen.readFunctions(funcConfigs);
+
+
+    let expected = {
+      "CompaniesDTO": {
+        "properties": {
+          "companies": {
+            "items": {
+              "$ref": "#/components/schemas/CompanyDTO"
+            },
+            "type": "array"
+          }
+        },
+        "type": "object"
+      },
+      "CompanyDTO": {
+        "properties": {
+          "client": {
+            "$ref": "#/components/schemas/UserDTO"
+          },
+          "name": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "notes": {
+            "type": "string"
+          }
+        },
+        "type": "object"
+      },
+      "UserDTO": {
+        "properties": {
+          "companyName": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "email": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "firstName": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "surname": {
+            "type": "string"
+          }
+        },
+        "type": "object"
+      }
+    };
+    expect(docGen.definition.components.schemas).toEqual(expected)
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/parse.ts b/src/parse.ts
index eaaa76c..d617fa4 100644
--- a/src/parse.ts
+++ b/src/parse.ts
@@ -14,9 +14,12 @@ function updateReferences(schema: JSONSchema7): JSONSchema7 {
   const cloned = _.cloneDeep(schema);
 
   if (cloned.$ref) {
+    let referencedValue = cloned.$ref
+      .replace("#/definitions", "#/components/schemas") // json schema syntax
+      .replace(/{{model: (\w+)}}/, "#/components/schemas/$1"); // swagger 2.0 syntax
     return {
       ...cloned,
-      $ref: cloned.$ref.replace("#/definitions", "#/components/schemas")
+      $ref: referencedValue
     };
   }