diff --git a/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh b/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh
index c4559029e5607a..f9c1e67c0540d9 100755
--- a/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh
+++ b/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ cp "src/dev/ci_setup/.bazelrc-ci" "$HOME/.bazelrc";
 echo "# Appended by src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh" >> "$HOME/.bazelrc"
 echo "build --remote_header=x-buildbuddy-api-key=$KIBANA_BUILDBUDDY_CI_API_KEY" >> "$HOME/.bazelrc"
 
+if [[ "$BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_ENABLE" != "true" ]]; then
+  export BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_ENABLE=false
+fi
+
 ###
 ### install dependencies
 ###
diff --git a/src/dev/typescript/build_ts_refs_cli.ts b/src/dev/typescript/build_ts_refs_cli.ts
index fc8911a2517733..a073e586232782 100644
--- a/src/dev/typescript/build_ts_refs_cli.ts
+++ b/src/dev/typescript/build_ts_refs_cli.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export async function runBuildRefsCli() {
     async ({ log, flags }) => {
       const outDirs = getOutputsDeep(REF_CONFIG_PATHS);
 
-      const cacheEnabled = process.env.BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_ENABLE === 'true' || !!flags.cache;
+      const cacheEnabled = process.env.BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_ENABLE !== 'false' && !!flags.cache;
       const doCapture = process.env.BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_CAPTURE === 'true';
       const doClean = !!flags.clean || doCapture;
       const doInitCache = cacheEnabled && !doClean;
@@ -62,6 +62,9 @@ export async function runBuildRefsCli() {
       description: 'Build TypeScript projects',
       flags: {
         boolean: ['clean', 'cache'],
+        default: {
+          cache: true,
+        },
       },
       log: {
         defaultLevel: 'debug',
diff --git a/src/dev/typescript/ref_output_cache/ref_output_cache.ts b/src/dev/typescript/ref_output_cache/ref_output_cache.ts
index 342470ce0c6e36..6f51243e47555b 100644
--- a/src/dev/typescript/ref_output_cache/ref_output_cache.ts
+++ b/src/dev/typescript/ref_output_cache/ref_output_cache.ts
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ export class RefOutputCache {
       this.log.debug(`[${relative}] clearing outDir and replacing with cache`);
       await del(outDir);
       await unzip(Path.resolve(tmpDir, cacheName), outDir);
-      await Fs.writeFile(Path.resolve(outDir, OUTDIR_MERGE_BASE_FILENAME), archive.sha);
+      await Fs.writeFile(Path.resolve(outDir, OUTDIR_MERGE_BASE_FILENAME), this.mergeBase);
     });
   }