diff --git a/.rubocop_manual_todo.yml b/.rubocop_manual_todo.yml
index a236073c0895087c0ed0bb773f170a9143f42489..cf8d25d2476f77d85858e615c3f4942d095a1d62 100644
--- a/.rubocop_manual_todo.yml
+++ b/.rubocop_manual_todo.yml
@@ -6,9 +6,6 @@ FactoryBot/InlineAssociation:
     - 'ee/spec/factories/merge_request_blocks.rb'
     - 'ee/spec/factories/vulnerabilities/feedback.rb'
     - 'spec/factories/atlassian_identities.rb'
-    - 'spec/factories/design_management/design_at_version.rb'
-    - 'spec/factories/design_management/designs.rb'
-    - 'spec/factories/design_management/versions.rb'
     - 'spec/factories/events.rb'
     - 'spec/factories/git_wiki_commit_details.rb'
     - 'spec/factories/gitaly/commit.rb'
diff --git a/app/graphql/resolvers/design_management/design_at_version_resolver.rb b/app/graphql/resolvers/design_management/design_at_version_resolver.rb
index b0da43abd547d61daeb9aabc4e92b2582041c540..1b69efebe4e93cadecd64b179a7f9a078924d563 100644
--- a/app/graphql/resolvers/design_management/design_at_version_resolver.rb
+++ b/app/graphql/resolvers/design_management/design_at_version_resolver.rb
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def self.single
       # that the DesignAtVersion as found by its ID does in fact belong
       # to this issue.
       def consistent?(dav)
-        issue.nil? || (dav&.design&.issue_id == issue.id)
+        issue.nil? || (dav.present? && dav.design&.issue_id == issue.id)
       end
 
       def issue
diff --git a/app/models/design_management/version.rb b/app/models/design_management/version.rb
index 55c9084caf274fb287f47c363754a7383da90144..49aec8b972043c223e5e7b3041b50bee80924aa2 100644
--- a/app/models/design_management/version.rb
+++ b/app/models/design_management/version.rb
@@ -43,10 +43,7 @@ def sentry_extra_data
     validates :sha, presence: true
     validates :sha, uniqueness: { case_sensitive: false, scope: :issue_id }
     validates :author, presence: true
-    # We are not validating the issue object as it incurs an extra query to fetch
-    # the record from the DB. Instead, we rely on the foreign key constraint to
-    # ensure referential integrity.
-    validates :issue_id, presence: true, unless: :importing?
+    validates :issue, presence: true, unless: :importing?
 
     sha_attribute :sha
 
diff --git a/spec/factories/design_management/design_at_version.rb b/spec/factories/design_management/design_at_version.rb
index b73df71595c3720d7f540ace28d695433a7984d4..3d85269ee27ac90e30cce69cb0eb3eea356cab27 100644
--- a/spec/factories/design_management/design_at_version.rb
+++ b/spec/factories/design_management/design_at_version.rb
@@ -9,13 +9,13 @@
     version { nil }
 
     transient do
-      issue { design&.issue || version&.issue || create(:issue) }
+      issue { design&.issue || version&.issue || association(:issue) }
     end
 
     initialize_with do
       attrs = attributes.dup
-      attrs[:design] ||= create(:design, issue: issue)
-      attrs[:version] ||= create(:design_version, issue: issue)
+      attrs[:design] ||= association(:design, issue: issue)
+      attrs[:version] ||= association(:design_version, issue: issue)
 
       new(attrs)
     end
diff --git a/spec/factories/design_management/designs.rb b/spec/factories/design_management/designs.rb
index 38d0545483c129dfe4847b9702150f3426cb1b6b..c58763791cc2072121e7c28647217b328e7291da 100644
--- a/spec/factories/design_management/designs.rb
+++ b/spec/factories/design_management/designs.rb
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 FactoryBot.define do
   factory :design, class: 'DesignManagement::Design' do
-    issue { create(:issue) }
-    project { issue&.project || create(:project) }
+    issue { association(:issue) }
+    project { issue&.project || association(:project) }
     sequence(:filename) { |n| "homescreen-#{n}.jpg" }
 
     transient do
diff --git a/spec/factories/design_management/versions.rb b/spec/factories/design_management/versions.rb
index a5c0e7076e914d2d7c5a379e4370299be1d07e53..0233a3b567d6fb2f913f54e4ac644e08468ea386 100644
--- a/spec/factories/design_management/versions.rb
+++ b/spec/factories/design_management/versions.rb
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
 FactoryBot.define do
   factory :design_version, class: 'DesignManagement::Version' do
     sha
-    issue { designs.first&.issue || create(:issue) }
-    author { issue&.author || create(:user) }
+    issue { designs.first&.issue || association(:issue) }
+    author { issue&.author || association(:user) }
 
     transient do
       designs_count { 1 }
diff --git a/spec/models/design_management/design_at_version_spec.rb b/spec/models/design_management/design_at_version_spec.rb
index 220de80a52aa89bf14ece3ee520a3536d12b108c..a7cf6a9652bf0a9883d839b3f8c9c36a427ebcd6 100644
--- a/spec/models/design_management/design_at_version_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/design_management/design_at_version_spec.rb
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@
   end
 
   describe 'validations' do
-    subject(:design_at_version) { build(:design_at_version) }
+    subject(:design_at_version) { build_stubbed(:design_at_version) }
 
     it { is_expected.to be_valid }
 
diff --git a/spec/models/design_management/version_spec.rb b/spec/models/design_management/version_spec.rb
index cd52f4129dca88a6b6f6b664a753cf4ffd5fc982..e004ad024bc432f22df6fe3b7456ff331060410a 100644
--- a/spec/models/design_management/version_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/design_management/version_spec.rb
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
     it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of(:author) }
     it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of(:sha) }
     it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of(:designs) }
-    it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of(:issue_id) }
+    it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of(:issue) }
     it { is_expected.to validate_uniqueness_of(:sha).scoped_to(:issue_id).case_insensitive }
   end