diff --git a/include/chaiscript/dispatchkit/bootstrap.hpp b/include/chaiscript/dispatchkit/bootstrap.hpp
index 6be8a1b..8abca9a 100644
--- a/include/chaiscript/dispatchkit/bootstrap.hpp
+++ b/include/chaiscript/dispatchkit/bootstrap.hpp
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ namespace chaiscript
         m->add(fun(&dispatch::Dynamic_Object::get_attrs), "get_attrs");
         m->add(fun(&dispatch::Dynamic_Object::get_attr), "get_attr");
 
-        m->eval("def Dynamic_Object::clone() { auto new_o := Dynamic_Object(this.get_type_name()); for_each(this.get_attrs(), bind(fun(new_o, x) { new_o.get_attr(x.first) = x.second; }, new_o, _) ); return new_o; }");
+        m->eval("def Dynamic_Object::clone() { auto &new_o = Dynamic_Object(this.get_type_name()); for_each(this.get_attrs(), bind(fun(new_o, x) { new_o.get_attr(x.first) = x.second; }, new_o, _) ); return new_o; }");
 
         m->add(fun(&has_guard), "has_guard");
         m->add(fun(&get_guard), "get_guard");
diff --git a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_engine.hpp b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_engine.hpp
index aeeba9e..1b7cda1 100644
--- a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_engine.hpp
+++ b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_engine.hpp
@@ -335,7 +335,6 @@ namespace chaiscript
       m_engine.add_reserved_word("&&");
       m_engine.add_reserved_word("||");
       m_engine.add_reserved_word(",");
-      m_engine.add_reserved_word(":=");
       m_engine.add_reserved_word("auto");
       m_engine.add_reserved_word("return");
       m_engine.add_reserved_word("break");
diff --git a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_eval.hpp b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_eval.hpp
index aaad2c8..3c7cd21 100644
--- a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_eval.hpp
+++ b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_eval.hpp
@@ -302,10 +302,11 @@ namespace chaiscript
                     /// \todo This does not handle the case of an unassigned reference variable
                     ///       being assigned outside of its declaration
                     lhs.assign(retval);
+                    return retval;
                   } else {
                     retval = t_ss.call_function("clone", retval);
+                    retval.clear_dependencies();
                   }
-                  retval.clear_dependencies();
                 }
 
                 try {
@@ -319,13 +320,6 @@ namespace chaiscript
                 throw exception::eval_error("Can not clone right hand side of equation");
               }
             }
-            else if (this->children[1]->text == ":=") {
-              if (lhs.is_undef() || type_match(lhs, retval)) {
-                lhs.assign(retval);
-              } else {
-                throw exception::eval_error("Mismatched types in equation");
-              }
-            }
             else {
               try {
                 retval = t_ss.call_function(this->children[1]->text, lhs, retval);
diff --git a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_parser.hpp b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_parser.hpp
index eb4eda6..edd3f77 100644
--- a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_parser.hpp
+++ b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_parser.hpp
@@ -1889,7 +1889,7 @@ namespace chaiscript
 
           if (Operator()) {
             retval = true;
-            if (Symbol("=", true, true) || Symbol(":=", true, true) || Symbol("+=", true, true) ||
+            if (Symbol("=", true, true) ||  Symbol("+=", true, true) ||
                 Symbol("-=", true, true) || Symbol("*=", true, true) || Symbol("/=", true, true) ||
                 Symbol("%=", true, true) || Symbol("<<=", true, true) || Symbol(">>=", true, true) ||
                 Symbol("&=", true, true) || Symbol("^=", true, true) || Symbol("|=", true, true)) {
diff --git a/unittests/ref_equal.chai b/unittests/ref_equal.chai
deleted file mode 100644
index 200991e..0000000
--- a/unittests/ref_equal.chai
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-auto i = 3
-auto j := i
-j = 4
-
-assert_equal(4, i)
diff --git a/unittests/reflection_test.chai b/unittests/reflection_test.chai
index a35649e..42566bc 100644
--- a/unittests/reflection_test.chai
+++ b/unittests/reflection_test.chai
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 load_module("reflection")
-auto parser := ChaiScript_Parser()
+auto& parser = ChaiScript_Parser()
 auto parse_success = parser.parse("3 + 4", "INPUT")
-auto a := parser.ast()
+auto& a = parser.ast()
 
 assert_equal(eval(a), 7)
 
-auto childs := a.children.front().children
-auto node := childs[0]
+auto& childs = a.children.front().children
+auto& node = childs[0]
 
-auto parser2 := ChaiScript_Parser()
+auto& parser2 = ChaiScript_Parser()
 parser2.parse("9", "INPUT")
 
 
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ assert_equal(false, `+`.has_parse_tree());
 
 assert_throws("Function does not have a parse tree", fun() { `+`.get_parse_tree(); } );
 
-auto parsetree := my_fun.get_parse_tree();
+auto& parsetree = my_fun.get_parse_tree();
 
 assert_equal(1, eval(parsetree));