diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwscript/locals.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwscript/locals.cpp
index 57584ac306..6a8a857d8b 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwscript/locals.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwscript/locals.cpp
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ namespace MWScript
 
     int Locals::getIntVar(const std::string &script, const std::string &var)
     {
-        Compiler::Locals locals = MWBase::Environment::get().getScriptManager()->getLocals(script);
+        const Compiler::Locals& locals = MWBase::Environment::get().getScriptManager()->getLocals(script);
         int index = locals.getIndex(var);
         char type = locals.getType(var);
         if(index != -1)
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ namespace MWScript
 
     bool Locals::setVarByInt(const std::string& script, const std::string& var, int val)
     {
-        Compiler::Locals locals = MWBase::Environment::get().getScriptManager()->getLocals(script);
+        const Compiler::Locals& locals = MWBase::Environment::get().getScriptManager()->getLocals(script);
         int index = locals.getIndex(var);
         char type = locals.getType(var);
         if(index != -1)