diff --git a/phpBB/includes/template/context.php b/phpBB/includes/template/context.php
index c667282f7b..695f6e0ed3 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/template/context.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/template/context.php
@@ -68,11 +68,15 @@ class phpbb_template_context
 
 	public function get_data_ref()
 	{
-		return $this->tpldata;
+		// returning a reference directly is not
+		// something php is capable of doing
+		$ref = &$this->tpldata;
+		return $ref;
 	}
 
 	public function get_root_ref()
 	{
+		// rootref is already a reference
 		return $this->rootref;
 	}
 
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/template/renderer_eval.php b/phpBB/includes/template/renderer_eval.php
index a3d7f88fa5..f3365ff8a7 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/template/renderer_eval.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/template/renderer_eval.php
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class phpbb_template_renderer_eval implements phpbb_template_renderer
 	*/
 	public function render($context, $lang)
 	{
-		$_template = &$this->template;
+		$_template = $this->template;
 		$_tpldata = &$context->get_data_ref();
 		$_rootref = &$context->get_root_ref();
 		$_lang = &$lang;
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/template/renderer_include.php b/phpBB/includes/template/renderer_include.php
index aca3a3634d..28a8027df3 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/template/renderer_include.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/template/renderer_include.php
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class phpbb_template_renderer_include implements phpbb_template_renderer
 	*/
 	public function render($context, $lang)
 	{
-		$_template = &$this->template;
+		$_template = $this->template;
 		$_tpldata = &$context->get_data_ref();
 		$_rootref = &$context->get_root_ref();
 		$_lang = &$lang;