diff --git a/phpBB/includes/acp/acp_captcha.php b/phpBB/includes/acp/acp_captcha.php
index 8116fce6f0..bef8ae0ea9 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/acp/acp_captcha.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/acp/acp_captcha.php
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class acp_captcha
 		// Delegate
 		if ($configure)
 		{
-			$config_captcha =& phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($selected);
+			$config_captcha = phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($selected);
 			$config_captcha->acp_page($id, $this);
 		}
 		else
@@ -78,11 +78,11 @@ class acp_captcha
 					// sanity check
 					if (isset($captchas['available'][$selected]))
 					{
-						$old_captcha =& phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($config['captcha_plugin']);
+						$old_captcha = phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($config['captcha_plugin']);
 						$old_captcha->uninstall();
 
 						set_config('captcha_plugin', $selected);
-						$new_captcha =& phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($config['captcha_plugin']);
+						$new_captcha = phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($config['captcha_plugin']);
 						$new_captcha->install();
 
 						add_log('admin', 'LOG_CONFIG_VISUAL');
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ class acp_captcha
 					$captcha_select .= '<option value="' . $value . '"' . $current . ' class="disabled-option">' . $user->lang[$title] . '</option>';
 				}
 
-				$demo_captcha =& phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($selected);
+				$demo_captcha = phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($selected);
 
 				foreach ($config_vars as $config_var => $options)
 				{
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ class acp_captcha
 	{
 		global $db, $user, $config;
 
-		$captcha =& phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($selected);
+		$captcha = phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($selected);
 		$captcha->init(CONFIRM_REG);
 		$captcha->execute_demo();
 
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/auth/auth_db.php b/phpBB/includes/auth/auth_db.php
index b4ae1911cf..a2ff9b4047 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/auth/auth_db.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/auth/auth_db.php
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ function login_db($username, $password, $ip = '', $browser = '', $forwarded_for
 			include ($phpbb_root_path . 'includes/captcha/captcha_factory.' . $phpEx);
 		}
 
-		$captcha =& phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($config['captcha_plugin']);
+		$captcha = phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($config['captcha_plugin']);
 		$captcha->init(CONFIRM_LOGIN);
 		$vc_response = $captcha->validate($row);
 		if ($vc_response)
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/captcha/captcha_factory.php b/phpBB/includes/captcha/captcha_factory.php
index a3766f4054..c2ec8c5bda 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/captcha/captcha_factory.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/captcha/captcha_factory.php
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class phpbb_captcha_factory
 	/**
 	* return an instance of class $name in file $name_plugin.php
 	*/
-	function &get_instance($name)
+	function get_instance($name)
 	{
 		global $phpbb_root_path, $phpEx;
 
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_captcha_gd_plugin.php b/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_captcha_gd_plugin.php
index add8c3959f..bb76a06371 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_captcha_gd_plugin.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_captcha_gd_plugin.php
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ class phpbb_captcha_gd extends phpbb_default_captcha
 		}
 	}
 
-	function &get_instance()
+	function get_instance()
 	{
-		$instance =& new phpbb_captcha_gd();
+		$instance = new phpbb_captcha_gd();
 		return $instance;
 	}
 
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_captcha_nogd_plugin.php b/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_captcha_nogd_plugin.php
index 490a0d62ab..3e98c45d2c 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_captcha_nogd_plugin.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_captcha_nogd_plugin.php
@@ -40,9 +40,9 @@ class phpbb_captcha_nogd extends phpbb_default_captcha
 		}
 	}
 
-	function &get_instance()
+	function get_instance()
 	{
-		$instance =& new phpbb_captcha_nogd();
+		$instance = new phpbb_captcha_nogd();
 		return $instance;
 	}
 
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_captcha_qa_plugin.php b/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_captcha_qa_plugin.php
index 3bc727da41..272c0cd4d2 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_captcha_qa_plugin.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_captcha_qa_plugin.php
@@ -99,9 +99,9 @@ class phpbb_captcha_qa
 	/**
 	*  API function
 	*/
-	function &get_instance()
+	function get_instance()
 	{
-		$instance =& new phpbb_captcha_qa();
+		$instance = new phpbb_captcha_qa();
 
 		return $instance;
 	}
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_recaptcha_plugin.php b/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_recaptcha_plugin.php
index c0db41d5a5..0c36456886 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_recaptcha_plugin.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/captcha/plugins/phpbb_recaptcha_plugin.php
@@ -54,9 +54,9 @@ class phpbb_recaptcha extends phpbb_default_captcha
 		$this->response = request_var('recaptcha_response_field', '');
 	}
 
-	function &get_instance()
+	function get_instance()
 	{
-		$instance =& new phpbb_recaptcha();
+		$instance = new phpbb_recaptcha();
 		return $instance;
 	}
 
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/functions_posting.php b/phpBB/includes/functions_posting.php
index 9e81533cea..4ca76344de 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/functions_posting.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/functions_posting.php
@@ -1078,7 +1078,7 @@ function topic_review($topic_id, $forum_id, $mode = 'topic_review', $cur_post_id
 			continue;
 		}
 
-		$row =& $rowset[$post_list[$i]];
+		$row = $rowset[$post_list[$i]];
 
 		$poster_id		= $row['user_id'];
 		$post_subject	= $row['post_subject'];
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/ucp/ucp_register.php b/phpBB/includes/ucp/ucp_register.php
index 71374a9381..3781fc6b1c 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/ucp/ucp_register.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/ucp/ucp_register.php
@@ -156,13 +156,12 @@ class ucp_register
 			$this->tpl_name = 'ucp_agreement';
 			return;
 		}
-		
-		
-		// The CAPTCHA kicks in here. We can't help that the information gets lost on language change. 
+
+		// The CAPTCHA kicks in here. We can't help that the information gets lost on language change.
 		if ($config['enable_confirm'])
 		{
 			include($phpbb_root_path . 'includes/captcha/captcha_factory.' . $phpEx);
-			$captcha =& phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($config['captcha_plugin']);
+			$captcha = phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($config['captcha_plugin']);
 			$captcha->init(CONFIRM_REG);
 		}
 
diff --git a/phpBB/memberlist.php b/phpBB/memberlist.php
index 418c1a4417..ec245795ad 100644
--- a/phpBB/memberlist.php
+++ b/phpBB/memberlist.php
@@ -1547,7 +1547,7 @@ switch ($mode)
 			for ($i = 0, $end = sizeof($user_list); $i < $end; ++$i)
 			{
 				$user_id = $user_list[$i];
-				$row =& $id_cache[$user_id];
+				$row = $id_cache[$user_id];
 				$is_leader = (isset($row['group_leader']) && $row['group_leader']) ? true : false;
 				$leaders_set = ($leaders_set || $is_leader);
 
diff --git a/phpBB/posting.php b/phpBB/posting.php
index 0809b5a685..74a8ebecb5 100644
--- a/phpBB/posting.php
+++ b/phpBB/posting.php
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ $user->setup(array('posting', 'mcp', 'viewtopic'), $post_data['forum_style']);
 if ($config['enable_post_confirm'] && !$user->data['is_registered'])
 {
 	include($phpbb_root_path . 'includes/captcha/captcha_factory.' . $phpEx);
-	$captcha =& phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($config['captcha_plugin']);
+	$captcha = phpbb_captcha_factory::get_instance($config['captcha_plugin']);
 	$captcha->init(CONFIRM_POST);
 }
 
diff --git a/phpBB/viewtopic.php b/phpBB/viewtopic.php
index 3b383210c9..d9e71e2088 100644
--- a/phpBB/viewtopic.php
+++ b/phpBB/viewtopic.php
@@ -1302,7 +1302,7 @@ for ($i = 0, $end = sizeof($post_list); $i < $end; ++$i)
 		continue;
 	}
 
-	$row =& $rowset[$post_list[$i]];
+	$row = $rowset[$post_list[$i]];
 	$poster_id = $row['user_id'];
 
 	// End signature parsing, only if needed