diff --git a/src/baseWrapper.ts b/src/baseWrapper.ts
index 7bf6f3c70..ffb68ec22 100644
--- a/src/baseWrapper.ts
+++ b/src/baseWrapper.ts
@@ -46,8 +46,9 @@ export default abstract class BaseWrapper<ElementType extends Node>
     selector: K
   ): DOMWrapper<SVGElementTagNameMap[K]>
   find<T extends Element>(selector: string | RefSelector): DOMWrapper<T>
-  find(selector: string | RefSelector): DOMWrapper<Element>
-  find(selector: string | RefSelector): DOMWrapper<Element> {
+  find(selector: string): DOMWrapper<Element>
+  find(selector: RefSelector): DOMWrapper<Node>
+  find(selector: string | RefSelector): DOMWrapper<Node> {
     // allow finding the root element
     if (!isElement(this.element)) {
       return createWrapperError('DOMWrapper')
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ export default abstract class BaseWrapper<ElementType extends Node>
 
       const result = currentComponent.refs[selector.ref]
 
-      if (result instanceof HTMLElement) {
+      if (result instanceof Node) {
         return createDOMWrapper(result)
       } else {
         return createWrapperError('DOMWrapper')
@@ -110,8 +111,9 @@ export default abstract class BaseWrapper<ElementType extends Node>
     selector: T | Exclude<FindComponentSelector, FunctionalComponent>
   ): VueWrapper<InstanceType<T>>
   // searching for functional component results in DOMWrapper
+  findComponent<T extends FunctionalComponent>(selector: T): DOMWrapper<Node>
   findComponent<T extends FunctionalComponent>(
-    selector: T | string
+    selector: string
   ): DOMWrapper<Element>
   // searching by name or ref always results in VueWrapper
   findComponent<T extends never>(
@@ -154,7 +156,10 @@ export default abstract class BaseWrapper<ElementType extends Node>
     selector: T | Exclude<FindAllComponentsSelector, FunctionalComponent>
   ): VueWrapper<InstanceType<T>>[]
   findAllComponents<T extends FunctionalComponent>(
-    selector: T | string
+    selector: T
+  ): DOMWrapper<Node>[]
+  findAllComponents<T extends FunctionalComponent>(
+    selector: string
   ): DOMWrapper<Element>[]
   findAllComponents<T extends never>(selector: NameSelector): VueWrapper[]
   findAllComponents<T extends ComponentPublicInstance>(
@@ -223,7 +228,8 @@ export default abstract class BaseWrapper<ElementType extends Node>
     selector: K
   ): Omit<DOMWrapper<SVGElementTagNameMap[K]>, 'exists'>
   get<T extends Element>(selector: string): Omit<DOMWrapper<T>, 'exists'>
-  get(selector: string): Omit<DOMWrapper<Element>, 'exists'> {
+  get(selector: RefSelector): Omit<DOMWrapper<Node>, 'exists'>
+  get(selector: string | RefSelector): Omit<DOMWrapper<Element>, 'exists'> {
     const result = this.find(selector)
     if (result.exists()) {
       return result
diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index 004e601cf..b921e1717 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ interface Plugin<Instance, O> {
   options: O
 }
 
-class Pluggable<Instance = DOMWrapper<Element>> {
+class Pluggable<Instance = DOMWrapper<Node>> {
   installedPlugins: Plugin<Instance, any>[] = []
 
   install<O>(handler: (instance: Instance) => Record<string, any>): void
diff --git a/src/interfaces/wrapperLike.ts b/src/interfaces/wrapperLike.ts
index b5d4405d2..3ba2bc9ee 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/wrapperLike.ts
+++ b/src/interfaces/wrapperLike.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ export default interface WrapperLike {
     selector: K
   ): DOMWrapper<SVGElementTagNameMap[K]>
   find<T extends Element>(selector: string | RefSelector): DOMWrapper<T>
-  find(selector: string | RefSelector): DOMWrapper<Element>
+  find(selector: string): DOMWrapper<Element>
+  find(selector: RefSelector): DOMWrapper<Node>
 
   findAll<K extends keyof HTMLElementTagNameMap>(
     selector: K
@@ -50,8 +51,11 @@ export default interface WrapperLike {
     selector: T | Exclude<FindAllComponentsSelector, FunctionalComponent>
   ): VueWrapper<InstanceType<T>>[]
   findAllComponents<T extends FunctionalComponent>(
-    selector: T | string
+    selector: string
   ): DOMWrapper<Element>[]
+  findAllComponents<T extends FunctionalComponent>(
+    selector: T
+  ): DOMWrapper<Node>[]
   findAllComponents<T extends never>(selector: NameSelector): VueWrapper[]
   findAllComponents<T extends ComponentPublicInstance>(
     selector: T | FindAllComponentsSelector
@@ -65,6 +69,7 @@ export default interface WrapperLike {
     selector: K
   ): Omit<DOMWrapper<SVGElementTagNameMap[K]>, 'exists'>
   get<T extends Element>(selector: string): Omit<DOMWrapper<T>, 'exists'>
+  get(selector: RefSelector): Omit<DOMWrapper<Node>, 'exists'>
   get(selector: string): Omit<DOMWrapper<Element>, 'exists'>
 
   getComponent<T extends never>(selector: string): Omit<WrapperLike, 'exists'>
@@ -75,10 +80,6 @@ export default interface WrapperLike {
   getComponent<T extends FunctionalComponent>(
     selector: T | string
   ): Omit<DOMWrapper<Element>, 'exists'>
-  // searching by name or ref always results in VueWrapper
-  getComponent<T extends never>(
-    selector: NameSelector | RefSelector
-  ): Omit<VueWrapper, 'exists'>
   getComponent<T extends ComponentPublicInstance>(
     selector: T | FindComponentSelector
   ): Omit<VueWrapper<T>, 'exists'>
diff --git a/src/wrapperFactory.ts b/src/wrapperFactory.ts
index c9c18893c..af1cd04d9 100644
--- a/src/wrapperFactory.ts
+++ b/src/wrapperFactory.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ export enum WrapperType {
   VueWrapper
 }
 
-type DOMWrapperFactory = <T extends Element>(element: T) => DOMWrapperType<T>
+type DOMWrapperFactory = <T extends Node>(element: T) => DOMWrapperType<T>
 type VueWrapperFactory = <T extends ComponentPublicInstance>(
   app: App | null,
   vm: T,
diff --git a/test-dts/findComponent.d-test.ts b/test-dts/findComponent.d-test.ts
index 78d4f66bc..deb64e1d1 100644
--- a/test-dts/findComponent.d-test.ts
+++ b/test-dts/findComponent.d-test.ts
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ expectType<VueWrapper<InstanceType<typeof ComponentWithEmits>>>(
 
 // find by type - functional
 const functionalComponentByType = wrapper.findComponent(FuncComponent)
-expectType<DOMWrapper<Element>>(functionalComponentByType)
+expectType<DOMWrapper<Node>>(functionalComponentByType)
 
 // find by string
 const componentByString = wrapper.findComponent('.foo')
diff --git a/tests/find.spec.ts b/tests/find.spec.ts
index 493b6625a..f165f6384 100644
--- a/tests/find.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/find.spec.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { defineComponent, h, nextTick } from 'vue'
+import { defineComponent, h, nextTick, Fragment } from 'vue'
 
 import { mount, VueWrapper } from '../src'
 import SuspenseComponent from './components/Suspense.vue'
@@ -15,15 +15,29 @@ describe('find', () => {
     expect(wrapper.find('#my-span').exists()).toBe(true)
   })
 
-  it('find DOM element by ref', () => {
-    const Component = defineComponent({
-      render() {
-        return h('div', {}, [h('span', { ref: 'span', id: 'my-span' })])
-      }
+  describe('find DOM element by ref', () => {
+    it('works for root element', () => {
+      const Component = defineComponent({
+        render() {
+          return h('div', {}, [h('span', { ref: 'span', id: 'my-span' })])
+        }
+      })
+      const wrapper = mount(Component)
+      expect(wrapper.find({ ref: 'span' }).exists()).toBe(true)
+      expect(wrapper.find({ ref: 'span' }).attributes('id')).toBe('my-span')
+    })
+
+    it('works when ref is pointing to non-element node', () => {
+      const Component = defineComponent({
+        render() {
+          return h('div', null, h(Fragment, { ref: 'plain' }, ['hello']))
+        }
+      })
+
+      const wrapper = mount(Component)
+      expect(wrapper.find({ ref: 'plain' }).exists()).toBe(true)
+      expect(wrapper.find({ ref: 'plain' }).element).toBeInstanceOf(Text)
     })
-    const wrapper = mount(Component)
-    expect(wrapper.find({ ref: 'span' }).exists()).toBe(true)
-    expect(wrapper.find({ ref: 'span' }).attributes('id')).toBe('my-span')
   })
 
   it('find using multiple root nodes', () => {