diff --git a/lib/Excel/reader.php b/lib/Excel/reader.php
index 060e03b3e..72836d5c0 100644
--- a/lib/Excel/reader.php
+++ b/lib/Excel/reader.php
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ class Spreadsheet_Excel_Reader
      */
     function Spreadsheet_Excel_Reader()
     {
-        $this->_ole =& new OLERead();
+        $this->_ole = new OLERead();
         $this->setUTFEncoder('iconv');
     }