diff --git a/paddle/gserver/layers/ScaleSubRegionLayer.cpp b/paddle/gserver/layers/ScaleSubRegionLayer.cpp
index b18bc0c1b9065e09324d8ab4ed165679f6196d00..aa6778aef4e893208fd064ca22e217c6c4d960f9 100644
--- a/paddle/gserver/layers/ScaleSubRegionLayer.cpp
+++ b/paddle/gserver/layers/ScaleSubRegionLayer.cpp
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ void ScaleSubRegionLayer::forward(PassType passType) {
   shape_ = TensorShape({batchSize, channelsNum_, imgH_, imgW_});
 
   resetOutput(batchSize, imgV->getWidth());
-  auto out = getOutput();
+  auto& out = getOutput();
   out.setFrameHeight(imgH_);
   out.setFrameWidth(imgW_);