diff --git a/wp-includes/post.php b/wp-includes/post.php
index bf9d7bd13b..4132db4356 100644
--- a/wp-includes/post.php
+++ b/wp-includes/post.php
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ function &get_post(&$post, $output = OBJECT, $filter = 'raw') {
 	} else {
 		$post = (int) $post;
 		if ( ! $_post = wp_cache_get($post, 'posts') ) {
-			$_post = & $wpdb->get_row($wpdb->prepare("SELECT * FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE ID = %d LIMIT 1", $post));
+			$_post = $wpdb->get_row($wpdb->prepare("SELECT * FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE ID = %d LIMIT 1", $post));
 			if ( ! $_post )
 				return $null;
 			_get_post_ancestors($_post);