diff --git a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_common.hpp b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_common.hpp
index 84b1f80..74fb410 100644
--- a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_common.hpp
+++ b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_common.hpp
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ namespace chaiscript
                 Comparison, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Modulus, Array_Call, Dot_Access, Quoted_String, Single_Quoted_String,
                 Lambda, Block, Def, While, If, For, Inline_Array, Inline_Map, Return, File, Prefix, Break, Map_Pair, Value_Range,
                 Inline_Range, Annotation, Try, Catch, Finally, Method, Attr_Decl, Shift, Equality, Bitwise_And, Bitwise_Xor, Bitwise_Or, 
-                Logical_And, Logical_Or
+                Logical_And, Logical_Or, Reference
     };
   };
 
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ namespace chaiscript
                                     "Comparison", "Addition", "Subtraction", "Multiplication", "Division", "Modulus", "Array_Call", "Dot_Access", "Quoted_String", "Single_Quoted_String",
                                     "Lambda", "Block", "Def", "While", "If", "For", "Inline_Array", "Inline_Map", "Return", "File", "Prefix", "Break", "Map_Pair", "Value_Range",
                                     "Inline_Range", "Annotation", "Try", "Catch", "Finally", "Method", "Attr_Decl", "Shift", "Equality", "Bitwise_And", "Bitwise_Xor", "Bitwise_Or", 
-                                    "Logical_And", "Logical_Or"};
+                                    "Logical_And", "Logical_Or", "Reference"};
 
       return ast_node_types[ast_node_type];
     }
diff --git a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_eval.hpp b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_eval.hpp
index 2e15afd..e4d4d5a 100644
--- a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_eval.hpp
+++ b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_eval.hpp
@@ -848,6 +848,18 @@ namespace chaiscript
         }
     };
 
+    struct Reference_Node : public AST_Node {
+      public:
+        Reference_Node(const std::string &t_ast_node_text = "", int t_id = AST_Node_Type::Prefix, const std::shared_ptr<std::string> &t_fname=std::shared_ptr<std::string>(), int t_start_line = 0, int t_start_col = 0, int t_end_line = 0, int t_end_col = 0) :
+          AST_Node(t_ast_node_text, t_id, t_fname, t_start_line, t_start_col, t_end_line, t_end_col)
+        { }
+
+        virtual ~Reference_Node() {}
+        virtual Boxed_Value eval_internal(chaiscript::detail::Dispatch_Engine &t_ss){
+          return Boxed_Value();
+        }
+    };
+
     struct Prefix_AST_Node : public AST_Node {
       public:
         Prefix_AST_Node(const std::string &t_ast_node_text = "", int t_id = AST_Node_Type::Prefix, const std::shared_ptr<std::string> &t_fname=std::shared_ptr<std::string>(), int t_start_line = 0, int t_start_col = 0, int t_end_line = 0, int t_end_col = 0) :
diff --git a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_parser.hpp b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_parser.hpp
index e0f35d7..797bb35 100644
--- a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_parser.hpp
+++ b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_parser.hpp
@@ -1545,7 +1545,7 @@ namespace chaiscript
           if (Keyword("auto")) {
             retval = true;
 
-            if (!Id(true)) {
+            if (!(Reference() || Id(true))) {
               throw exception::eval_error("Incomplete variable declaration", File_Position(m_line, m_col), *m_filename);
             }
 
@@ -1622,6 +1622,22 @@ namespace chaiscript
           return retval;
         }
 
+        bool Reference() {
+          bool retval = false;
+
+          size_t prev_stack_top = m_match_stack.size();
+
+          if (Symbol("&", false)) {
+            retval = true;
+
+            if (!Id(true)) {
+              throw exception::eval_error("Incomplete '&' expression", File_Position(m_line, m_col), *m_filename);
+            }
+
+            build_match(AST_NodePtr(new eval::Reference_Node()), prev_stack_top);
+          }
+        }
+
         /**
          * Reads a unary prefixed expression from input
          */
@@ -1684,6 +1700,15 @@ namespace chaiscript
 
             build_match(AST_NodePtr(new eval::Prefix_AST_Node()), prev_stack_top);
           }
+          else if (Char('&', true)) {
+            retval = true;
+
+            if (!Operator(m_operators.size()-1)) {
+              throw exception::eval_error("Incomplete '~' expression", File_Position(m_line, m_col), *m_filename);
+            }
+
+            build_match(AST_NodePtr(new eval::Prefix_AST_Node()), prev_stack_top);
+          }
 
           return retval;
         }
diff --git a/unittests/var_decl.chai b/unittests/var_decl.chai
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a896e6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unittests/var_decl.chai
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+auto x