diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 6b9a3056bb3..55e8a80a1f8 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ PHP                                                                        NEWS
 
 - Standard:
   . Change highlight_string() and print_r() return type to string|true. (Ayesh)
+  . Fix references in request_parse_body() options array. (nielsdos)
 
 - Windows:
   . Update the icon of the Windows executables, e.g. php.exe. (Ayesh,
diff --git a/ext/standard/http.c b/ext/standard/http.c
index a9e56d45161..7a4a58755d8 100644
--- a/ext/standard/http.c
+++ b/ext/standard/http.c
@@ -244,6 +244,7 @@ static zend_result cache_request_parse_body_option(HashTable *options, zval *opt
 {
 	if (option) {
 		zend_long result;
+		ZVAL_DEREF(option);
 		if (Z_TYPE_P(option) == IS_STRING) {
 			zend_string *errstr;
 			result = zend_ini_parse_quantity(Z_STR_P(option), &errstr);
diff --git a/ext/standard/tests/http/request_parse_body/options_array_references.phpt b/ext/standard/tests/http/request_parse_body/options_array_references.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6c6c0c15765
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/standard/tests/http/request_parse_body/options_array_references.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+--TEST--
+request_parse_body: reference in options array
+--FILE--
+<?php
+$options = ['post_max_size' => '128M'];
+foreach ($options as $k => &$v) {}
+try {
+    request_parse_body($options);
+} catch (Throwable $e) {
+    echo $e->getMessage(), "\n";
+}
+?>
+--EXPECT--
+Request does not provide a content type