diff --git a/libwccl/values/matchdata.h b/libwccl/values/matchdata.h
index f4f822eef6d2318f1e444ea173ff5a3bfe6db7eb..f113256ade77789626b0df9c249797f6b5a40317 100644
--- a/libwccl/values/matchdata.h
+++ b/libwccl/values/matchdata.h
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public:
 	/**
 	 * Getter for a submatch at given index (indexing starts from 1).
 	 */
-	virtual const boost::shared_ptr<const Match>& submatch(size_t) const {
+	virtual const boost::shared_ptr<const Match> submatch(size_t) const {
 		throw WcclError("Getting a submatch is possible only for a MatchVector.");
 	}