diff --git a/inc/JpegMeta.php b/inc/JpegMeta.php
index ba6a2b5bb2176696215cfb58e213f03d57c889e8..947407a48b92be4c2930f03b6cc0c96091928321 100644
--- a/inc/JpegMeta.php
+++ b/inc/JpegMeta.php
@@ -975,7 +975,7 @@ class JpegMeta {
 
             if ($capture) {
                 if ($length)
-                    $this->_markers[$count]['data'] =& fread($this->_fp, $length);
+                    $this->_markers[$count]['data'] = fread($this->_fp, $length);
                 else
                     $this->_markers[$count]['data'] = "";
             }