diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Inline.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Inline.php
index 0db774fcd148..1b34edebd28f 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Inline.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Inline.php
@@ -32,12 +32,13 @@ class Inline
      * @param string  $value                  A YAML string
      * @param bool    $exceptionOnInvalidType true if an exception must be thrown on invalid types (a PHP resource or object), false otherwise
      * @param bool    $objectSupport          true if object support is enabled, false otherwise
+     * @param array   $references             Mapping of variable names to values
      *
      * @return array A PHP array representing the YAML string
      *
      * @throws ParseException
      */
-    public static function parse($value, $exceptionOnInvalidType = false, $objectSupport = false)
+    public static function parse($value, $exceptionOnInvalidType = false, $objectSupport = false, $references = array())
     {
         self::$exceptionOnInvalidType = $exceptionOnInvalidType;
         self::$objectSupport = $objectSupport;
@@ -56,15 +57,15 @@ public static function parse($value, $exceptionOnInvalidType = false, $objectSup
         $i = 0;
         switch ($value[0]) {
             case '[':
-                $result = self::parseSequence($value, $i);
+                $result = self::parseSequence($value, $i, $references);
                 ++$i;
                 break;
             case '{':
-                $result = self::parseMapping($value, $i);
+                $result = self::parseMapping($value, $i, $references);
                 ++$i;
                 break;
             default:
-                $result = self::parseScalar($value, null, array('"', "'"), $i);
+                $result = self::parseScalar($value, null, array('"', "'"), $i, true, $references);
         }
 
         // some comments are allowed at the end
@@ -184,14 +185,15 @@ private static function dumpArray($value, $exceptionOnInvalidType, $objectSuppor
      * @param scalar $scalar
      * @param string $delimiters
      * @param array  $stringDelimiters
-     * @param int     &$i
-     * @param bool    $evaluate
+     * @param int    &$i
+     * @param bool   $evaluate
+     * @param array  $references
      *
      * @return string A YAML string
      *
      * @throws ParseException When malformed inline YAML string is parsed
      */
-    public static function parseScalar($scalar, $delimiters = null, $stringDelimiters = array('"', "'"), &$i = 0, $evaluate = true)
+    public static function parseScalar($scalar, $delimiters = null, $stringDelimiters = array('"', "'"), &$i = 0, $evaluate = true, $references = array())
     {
         if (in_array($scalar[$i], $stringDelimiters)) {
             // quoted scalar
@@ -221,7 +223,7 @@ public static function parseScalar($scalar, $delimiters = null, $stringDelimiter
             }
 
             if ($evaluate) {
-                $output = self::evaluateScalar($output);
+                $output = self::evaluateScalar($output, $references);
             }
         }
 
@@ -262,13 +264,14 @@ private static function parseQuotedScalar($scalar, &$i)
      * Parses a sequence to a YAML string.
      *
      * @param string $sequence
-     * @param int     &$i
+     * @param int    &$i
+     * @param array  $references
      *
      * @return string A YAML string
      *
      * @throws ParseException When malformed inline YAML string is parsed
      */
-    private static function parseSequence($sequence, &$i = 0)
+    private static function parseSequence($sequence, &$i = 0, $references = array())
     {
         $output = array();
         $len = strlen($sequence);
@@ -279,11 +282,11 @@ private static function parseSequence($sequence, &$i = 0)
             switch ($sequence[$i]) {
                 case '[':
                     // nested sequence
-                    $output[] = self::parseSequence($sequence, $i);
+                    $output[] = self::parseSequence($sequence, $i, $references);
                     break;
                 case '{':
                     // nested mapping
-                    $output[] = self::parseMapping($sequence, $i);
+                    $output[] = self::parseMapping($sequence, $i, $references);
                     break;
                 case ']':
                     return $output;
@@ -292,12 +295,14 @@ private static function parseSequence($sequence, &$i = 0)
                     break;
                 default:
                     $isQuoted = in_array($sequence[$i], array('"', "'"));
-                    $value = self::parseScalar($sequence, array(',', ']'), array('"', "'"), $i);
+                    $value = self::parseScalar($sequence, array(',', ']'), array('"', "'"), $i, true, $references);
 
-                    if (!$isQuoted && false !== strpos($value, ': ')) {
+                    // the value can be an array if a reference has been resolved to an array var
+                    if (!is_array($value) && !$isQuoted && false !== strpos($value, ': ')) {
                         // embedded mapping?
                         try {
-                            $value = self::parseMapping('{'.$value.'}');
+                            $pos = 0;
+                            $value = self::parseMapping('{'.$value.'}', $pos, $references);
                         } catch (\InvalidArgumentException $e) {
                             // no, it's not
                         }
@@ -318,13 +323,14 @@ private static function parseSequence($sequence, &$i = 0)
      * Parses a mapping to a YAML string.
      *
      * @param string $mapping
-     * @param int     &$i
+     * @param int    &$i
+     * @param array  $references
      *
      * @return string A YAML string
      *
      * @throws ParseException When malformed inline YAML string is parsed
      */
-    private static function parseMapping($mapping, &$i = 0)
+    private static function parseMapping($mapping, &$i = 0, $references = array())
     {
         $output = array();
         $len = strlen($mapping);
@@ -350,19 +356,19 @@ private static function parseMapping($mapping, &$i = 0)
                 switch ($mapping[$i]) {
                     case '[':
                         // nested sequence
-                        $output[$key] = self::parseSequence($mapping, $i);
+                        $output[$key] = self::parseSequence($mapping, $i, $references);
                         $done = true;
                         break;
                     case '{':
                         // nested mapping
-                        $output[$key] = self::parseMapping($mapping, $i);
+                        $output[$key] = self::parseMapping($mapping, $i, $references);
                         $done = true;
                         break;
                     case ':':
                     case ' ':
                         break;
                     default:
-                        $output[$key] = self::parseScalar($mapping, array(',', '}'), array('"', "'"), $i);
+                        $output[$key] = self::parseScalar($mapping, array(',', '}'), array('"', "'"), $i, true, $references);
                         $done = true;
                         --$i;
                 }
@@ -382,15 +388,31 @@ private static function parseMapping($mapping, &$i = 0)
      * Evaluates scalars and replaces magic values.
      *
      * @param string $scalar
+     * @param array  $references
      *
      * @return string A YAML string
      *
      * @throws ParseException when object parsing support was disabled and the parser detected a PHP object
      */
-    private static function evaluateScalar($scalar)
+    private static function evaluateScalar($scalar, $references = array())
     {
         $scalar = trim($scalar);
         $scalarLower = strtolower($scalar);
+
+        if (0 === strpos($scalar, '*')) {
+            if (false !== $pos = strpos($scalar, '#')) {
+                $value = substr($scalar, 1, $pos - 2);
+            } else {
+                $value = substr($scalar, 1);
+            }
+
+            if (!array_key_exists($value, $references)) {
+                throw new ParseException(sprintf('Reference "%s" does not exist.', $value));
+            }
+
+            return $references[$value];
+        }
+
         switch (true) {
             case 'null' === $scalarLower:
             case '' === $scalar:
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Parser.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Parser.php
index 9bde67b57b54..d0aae87ab978 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Parser.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Parser.php
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ public function parse($value, $exceptionOnInvalidType = false, $objectSupport =
                 $context = 'mapping';
 
                 // force correct settings
-                Inline::parse(null, $exceptionOnInvalidType, $objectSupport);
+                Inline::parse(null, $exceptionOnInvalidType, $objectSupport, $this->refs);
                 try {
                     $key = Inline::parseScalar($values['key']);
                 } catch (ParseException $e) {
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ public function parse($value, $exceptionOnInvalidType = false, $objectSupport =
                 $lineCount = count($this->lines);
                 if (1 === $lineCount || (2 === $lineCount && empty($this->lines[1]))) {
                     try {
-                        $value = Inline::parse($this->lines[0], $exceptionOnInvalidType, $objectSupport);
+                        $value = Inline::parse($this->lines[0], $exceptionOnInvalidType, $objectSupport, $this->refs);
                     } catch (ParseException $e) {
                         $e->setParsedLine($this->getRealCurrentLineNb() + 1);
                         $e->setSnippet($this->currentLine);
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ private function parseValue($value, $exceptionOnInvalidType, $objectSupport)
         }
 
         try {
-            return Inline::parse($value, $exceptionOnInvalidType, $objectSupport);
+            return Inline::parse($value, $exceptionOnInvalidType, $objectSupport, $this->refs);
         } catch (ParseException $e) {
             $e->setParsedLine($this->getRealCurrentLineNb() + 1);
             $e->setSnippet($this->currentLine);
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Tests/InlineTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Tests/InlineTest.php
index af5018f2026f..96a118d073ed 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Tests/InlineTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Tests/InlineTest.php
@@ -115,6 +115,38 @@ public function testParseScalarWithCorrectlyQuotedStringShouldReturnString()
         $this->assertSame($expect, Inline::parseScalar($value));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider getDataForParseReferences
+     */
+    public function testParseReferences($yaml, $expected)
+    {
+        $this->assertSame($expected, Inline::parse($yaml, false, false, array('var' => 'var-value')));
+    }
+
+    public function getDataForParseReferences()
+    {
+        return array(
+            'scalar' => array('*var', 'var-value'),
+            'list' => array('[ *var ]', array('var-value')),
+            'list-in-list' => array('[[ *var ]]', array(array('var-value'))),
+            'map-in-list' => array('[ { key: *var } ]', array(array('key' => 'var-value'))),
+            'embedded-mapping-in-list' => array('[ key: *var ]', array(array('key' => 'var-value'))),
+            'map' => array('{ key: *var }', array('key' => 'var-value')),
+            'list-in-map' => array('{ key: [*var] }', array('key' => array('var-value'))),
+            'map-in-map' => array('{ foo: { bar: *var } }', array('foo' => array('bar' => 'var-value'))),
+        );
+    }
+
+    public function testParseMapReferenceInSequence()
+    {
+        $foo = array(
+            'a' => 'Steve',
+            'b' => 'Clark',
+            'c' => 'Brian',
+        );
+        $this->assertSame(array($foo), Inline::parse('[*foo]', false, false, array('foo' => $foo)));
+    }
+
     protected function getTestsForParse()
     {
         return array(
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Tests/ParserTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Tests/ParserTest.php
index 2335efc55990..01c7b5399511 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Tests/ParserTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Yaml/Tests/ParserTest.php
@@ -602,6 +602,32 @@ public function testNestedFoldedStringBlockWithComments()
             </body>
 
         footer # comment3
+EOF
+        ));
+    }
+
+    public function testReferenceResolvingInInlineStrings()
+    {
+        $this->assertEquals(array(
+            'var' => 'var-value',
+            'scalar' => 'var-value',
+            'list' => array('var-value'),
+            'list_in_list' => array(array('var-value')),
+            'map_in_list' => array(array('key' => 'var-value')),
+            'embedded_mapping' => array(array('key' => 'var-value')),
+            'map' => array('key' => 'var-value'),
+            'list_in_map' => array('key' => array('var-value')),
+            'map_in_map' => array('foo' => array('bar' => 'var-value')),
+        ), Yaml::parse(<<<EOF
+var:  &var var-value
+scalar: *var
+list: [ *var ]
+list_in_list: [[ *var ]]
+map_in_list: [ { key: *var } ]
+embedded_mapping: [ key: *var ]
+map: { key: *var }
+list_in_map: { key: [*var] }
+map_in_map: { foo: { bar: *var } }
 EOF
         ));
     }