diff --git a/tei2imxml.py b/tei2imxml.py
index 62c424b..8be6564 100755
--- a/tei2imxml.py
+++ b/tei2imxml.py
@@ -850,7 +850,7 @@ def assign_ids(xml_tree, data):
     return xml_tree, data
 # def assign_ids ends here
 
-def update_ids(xml_tree):
+def update_ids(xml_tree, ignore_ref_errors):
     """Update the references in EOAref to the id value assigned in assign_ids"""
 
     xmlReferences = xml_tree.findall(".//EOAref")
@@ -870,16 +870,22 @@ def update_ids(xml_tree):
         logging.debug("The corresponding id element is %s", corresponding_eoa_id_element)
         # if corresponding_eoa_id_element is None:
         if len(corresponding_eoa_id_element) == 0:
-            logging.error("There seems to be no corresponding xml:id for %s. Exiting." % label_text)
-            sys.exit(1)
+            if ignore_ref_errors:
+                logging.warning(f"Found no corresponding xml:id for {label_text}. Ignoring it for now.")
+                eoa_reference.set("target", "??")
+            else:
+                logging.error("There seems to be no corresponding xml:id for %s. Exiting." % label_text)
+                sys.exit(1)
         elif len(corresponding_eoa_id_element) > 1:
-            logging.error("The xml:id %s has been assigned more than once. This is not allowed. Exiting." % corresponding_eoa_id_element)
-            sys.exit(1)
+            if ignore_ref_errors:
+                pass
+            else:
+                logging.error("The xml:id %s has been assigned more than once. This is not allowed. Exiting." % corresponding_eoa_id_element)
+                sys.exit(1)
         else:
             eoa_id_element = corresponding_eoa_id_element[0]
-
-        eoa_id = eoa_id_element.get("id")
-        eoa_reference.set("target", eoa_id)
+            eoa_id = eoa_id_element.get("id")
+            eoa_reference.set("target", eoa_id)
 
     return xml_tree
 # def update_ids ends here
@@ -962,7 +968,7 @@ def convert_bibliography_to_dict(bib_data):
         bibliography_dict = btb.entries_dict
 
     return bibliography_dict
-# deef convert_bibliography_to_dict ends here
+# def convert_bibliography_to_dict ends here
 
 
 def make_bibliography_pandoc(used_citekeys, bib_data, citations_json, output_file_root, CSL_FILE):
@@ -1145,6 +1151,11 @@ def main():
             default = "./output/imxml",
             help="where to dump all output files"
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+            "-i", "--ignore-ref-errors",
+            action="store_true",
+            help="Ignore warnings of missing or duplicate ids."
+    )
 
     parser.add_argument("-d", "--pickleddata", default="./output/imxml/tmp_files/data.pickle", help="Pickled data file to be used.")
     parser.add_argument("-him", "--hyperimage", action="store_true")
@@ -1152,7 +1163,6 @@ def main():
     config_file = args.CONFIG_FILE
     print("The config file is ", config_file)
 
-
     INPUT_DIR = Path( args.filename ).resolve().parent
     INPUT_PATH = Path( args.filename )
     OUTPUT_DIR = Path( args.output_dir )
@@ -1254,7 +1264,7 @@ def main():
 
     assigned_ids, data_to_pickle = assign_ids(xml_add_bib, data)
 
-    updated_xml_tree = update_ids(assigned_ids)
+    updated_xml_tree = update_ids(assigned_ids, args.ignore_ref_errors)
     # libeoaconvert.debug_xml_here(updated_xml_tree, "updated_tree")
     # nearly_final_tree = etree.ElementTree(updated_xml_tree)
     # xml_root = nearly_final_tree.getroot()