diff --git a/src/Utility/Hash.php b/src/Utility/Hash.php
index 23a2cb33b2c..8daffc43304 100644
--- a/src/Utility/Hash.php
+++ b/src/Utility/Hash.php
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ public static function get(array $data, $path, $default = null) {
 
 		foreach ($parts as $key) {
 			if (is_array($data) && isset($data[$key])) {
-				$data =& $data[$key];
+				$data = $data[$key];
 			} else {
 				return $default;
 			}