diff --git a/headers/private/shared/Variant.h b/headers/private/shared/Variant.h
index 0a1fb80315..bc497a30e0 100644
--- a/headers/private/shared/Variant.h
+++ b/headers/private/shared/Variant.h
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ public:
 			double				ToDouble() const;
 			void*				ToPointer() const;
 			const char*			ToString() const;
+			BReferenceable*		ToReferenceable() const;
 
 			void				SwapEndianess();
 									// has effect only on scalar types (pointer
diff --git a/src/kits/shared/Variant.cpp b/src/kits/shared/Variant.cpp
index 980de5b6d7..1d63447367 100644
--- a/src/kits/shared/Variant.cpp
+++ b/src/kits/shared/Variant.cpp
@@ -336,13 +336,21 @@ BVariant::_SetTo(const BVariant& other)
 		}
 	} else if ((other.fFlags & B_VARIANT_REFERENCEABLE_DATA) != 0) {
 		if (other.fReferenceable != NULL)
-			fReferenceable->AcquireReference();
+			other.fReferenceable->AcquireReference();
 	}
 
 	memcpy(this, &other, sizeof(BVariant));
 }
 
 
+BReferenceable*
+BVariant::ToReferenceable() const
+{
+	return (fFlags & B_VARIANT_REFERENCEABLE_DATA) != 0
+		? fReferenceable : NULL;
+}
+
+
 void
 BVariant::SwapEndianess()
 {