diff --git a/Zend/zend_operators.c b/Zend/zend_operators.c
index ae75e95a71c1d..252b8df1ea0fb 100644
--- a/Zend/zend_operators.c
+++ b/Zend/zend_operators.c
@@ -378,6 +378,7 @@ static zend_always_inline zend_result zendi_try_convert_scalar_to_number(zval *o
 static zend_never_inline zend_long ZEND_FASTCALL zendi_try_get_long(const zval *op, bool *failed) /* {{{ */
 {
 	*failed = 0;
+try_again:
 	switch (Z_TYPE_P(op)) {
 		case IS_NULL:
 		case IS_FALSE:
@@ -448,6 +449,14 @@ static zend_never_inline zend_long ZEND_FASTCALL zendi_try_get_long(const zval *
 		case IS_ARRAY:
 			*failed = 1;
 			return 0;
+		case IS_REFERENCE:
+			op = Z_REFVAL_P(op);
+			if (Z_TYPE_P(op) == IS_LONG) {
+				return Z_LVAL_P(op);
+			} else {
+				goto try_again;
+			}
+			break;
 		EMPTY_SWITCH_DEFAULT_CASE()
 	}
 }
diff --git a/ext/intl/dateformat/dateformat_parse.c b/ext/intl/dateformat/dateformat_parse.c
index 129e007107db7..2bdde08bcaced 100644
--- a/ext/intl/dateformat/dateformat_parse.c
+++ b/ext/intl/dateformat/dateformat_parse.c
@@ -185,12 +185,10 @@ PHP_METHOD(IntlDateFormatter, parseToCalendar)
 	DATE_FORMAT_METHOD_FETCH_OBJECT;
 
 	if (z_parse_pos) {
-		zval *z_parse_pos_tmp = z_parse_pos;
-		ZVAL_DEREF(z_parse_pos_tmp);
-		bool failed = false;
-		zend_long long_parse_pos = zval_try_get_long(z_parse_pos_tmp, &failed);
+		bool failed;
+		zend_long long_parse_pos = zval_try_get_long(z_parse_pos, &failed);
 		if (failed) {
-			zend_argument_type_error(2, "must be of type int, %s given", zend_zval_value_name(z_parse_pos_tmp));
+			zend_argument_type_error(2, "must be of type int, %s given", zend_zval_value_name(z_parse_pos));
 			RETURN_THROWS();
 		}
 		if (ZEND_LONG_INT_OVFL(long_parse_pos)) {
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/mbstring.c b/ext/mbstring/mbstring.c
index e848f21615bca..ca5a8b8ec72e4 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/mbstring.c
+++ b/ext/mbstring/mbstring.c
@@ -3930,7 +3930,7 @@ static uint32_t *make_conversion_map(HashTable *target_hash, size_t *conversion_
 	uint32_t *mapelm = convmap;
 
 	ZEND_HASH_FOREACH_VAL(target_hash, hash_entry) {
-		bool failed = true;
+		bool failed;
 		zend_long tmp = zval_try_get_long(hash_entry, &failed);
 		if (failed) {
 			efree(convmap);
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_encode_numericentity_references.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_encode_numericentity_references.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..682be9b2cd1e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_encode_numericentity_references.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+--TEST--
+mb_encode_numericentity() reference handling
+--EXTENSIONS--
+mbstring
+--FILE--
+<?php
+$n = 0;
+$convmap = [&$n, 0x1FFFFF, 0, 0x10FFFF];
+var_dump(mb_encode_numericentity("", $convmap, "utf8"));
+?>
+--EXPECT--
+string(0) ""
diff --git a/ext/pcntl/pcntl.c b/ext/pcntl/pcntl.c
index 89631960d5677..25a4de9386d44 100644
--- a/ext/pcntl/pcntl.c
+++ b/ext/pcntl/pcntl.c
@@ -874,8 +874,7 @@ static bool php_pcntl_set_user_signal_infos(
 
 	zval *user_signal_no;
 	ZEND_HASH_FOREACH_VAL(user_signals, user_signal_no) {
-		bool failed = true;
-		ZVAL_DEREF(user_signal_no);
+		bool failed;
 		zend_long tmp = zval_try_get_long(user_signal_no, &failed);
 
 		if (failed) {