diff --git a/gulliver/thirdparty/pear/Log.php b/gulliver/thirdparty/pear/Log.php
index 51891a0ec..a4891c198 100644
--- a/gulliver/thirdparty/pear/Log.php
+++ b/gulliver/thirdparty/pear/Log.php
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ class Log
 
         /* If the class exists, return a new instance of it. */
         if (class_exists($class, false)) {
-            $obj = &new $class($name, $ident, $conf, $level);
+            $obj = new $class($name, $ident, $conf, $level);
             return $obj;
         }