diff --git a/src/shogun/mathematics/linalg/LinalgBackendViennaCL.h b/src/shogun/mathematics/linalg/LinalgBackendViennaCL.h
index e32bd1407d4..60f2f575007 100644
--- a/src/shogun/mathematics/linalg/LinalgBackendViennaCL.h
+++ b/src/shogun/mathematics/linalg/LinalgBackendViennaCL.h
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ namespace shogun
 
 	/** Implementation of @see LinalgBackendBase::scale */
 	#define BACKEND_GENERIC_IN_PLACE_SCALE(Type, Container) \
-	virtual void scale(Container<Type>& a, Type alpha, Container<Type>& result) const \
+	virtual void scale(const Container<Type>& a, Type alpha, Container<Type>& result) const \
 	{  \
 		scale_impl(a, result, alpha); \
 	}