One embodiment of the present invention provides a memory-management system that supports both address-referenced objects and identifier-referenced objects, wherein an address-referenced object is accessed through a reference containing an address of the object, and wherein an identifier-referenced object is accessed through a reference containing an object identifier (OID) for the object. During operation, the system receives a request to access an object. Next, the system determines if the object is an address-referenced object or an identifier-referenced object. If the object is an address-referenced object, the system accesses the object using the associated address for the object. If the object is an identifier-referenced object, the system accesses the object by using the associated OID for the object to look up the address for the object, and then using the address to access the object.