diff --git a/library/HTMLPurifier/HTMLModule/Tidy.php b/library/HTMLPurifier/HTMLModule/Tidy.php
index 08aa2324..12173ba7 100644
--- a/library/HTMLPurifier/HTMLModule/Tidy.php
+++ b/library/HTMLPurifier/HTMLModule/Tidy.php
@@ -146,10 +146,7 @@ class HTMLPurifier_HTMLModule_Tidy extends HTMLPurifier_HTMLModule
                         $type = "info_$type";
                         $e = $this;
                     }
-                    // PHP does some weird parsing when I do
-                    // $e->$type[$attr], so I have to assign a ref.
-                    $f =& $e->$type;
-                    $f[$attr] = $fix;
+                    $e->{$type}[$attr] = $fix;
                     break;
                 case 'tag_transform':
                     $this->info_tag_transform[$params['element']] = $fix;