diff --git a/firebase-dataconnect/src/main/kotlin/com/google/firebase/dataconnect/util/NullableReference.kt b/firebase-dataconnect/src/main/kotlin/com/google/firebase/dataconnect/util/NullableReference.kt
index 9a67442e263..ed9b9da8ee2 100644
--- a/firebase-dataconnect/src/main/kotlin/com/google/firebase/dataconnect/util/NullableReference.kt
+++ b/firebase-dataconnect/src/main/kotlin/com/google/firebase/dataconnect/util/NullableReference.kt
@@ -15,7 +15,12 @@
  */
 package com.google.firebase.dataconnect.util
 
-internal class NullableReference<T>(val ref: T? = null) {
+/**
+ * A class that simply wraps a reference to another object, possibly a null reference. Instances of
+ * this class can be useful for the case where the meaning of `null` is overloaded, such as
+ * [kotlinx.coroutines.flow.MutableStateFlow.compareAndSet].
+ */
+internal class NullableReference<out T>(val ref: T? = null) {
   override fun equals(other: Any?) = (other is NullableReference<*>) && other.ref == ref
   override fun hashCode() = ref?.hashCode() ?: 0
   override fun toString() = ref?.toString() ?: "null"