diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/PropertyAccess/PropertyAccessor.php b/src/Symfony/Component/PropertyAccess/PropertyAccessor.php
index f6c0c636d43be..76ef8c1d5cfb6 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/PropertyAccess/PropertyAccessor.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/PropertyAccess/PropertyAccessor.php
@@ -118,7 +118,9 @@ private function &readPropertiesUntil(&$objectOrArray, PropertyPathInterface $pr
                     (is_array($objectOrArray) && !array_key_exists($property, $objectOrArray))
                 )
             ) {
-                $objectOrArray[$property] = $i + 1 < $propertyPath->getLength() ? array() : null;
+                if ($i + 1 < $propertyPath->getLength()) {
+                    $objectOrArray[$property] = array();
+                }
             }
 
             if ($isIndex) {
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/PropertyAccess/Tests/PropertyAccessorTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/PropertyAccess/Tests/PropertyAccessorTest.php
index fec4e14b0940b..87287048a7752 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/PropertyAccess/Tests/PropertyAccessorTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/PropertyAccess/Tests/PropertyAccessorTest.php
@@ -103,6 +103,15 @@ public function testGetValueReadsProperty()
         $this->assertEquals('Bernhard', $this->propertyAccessor->getValue($object, 'firstName'));
     }
 
+    public function testGetValueNotModifyObject()
+    {
+        $object = new Author();
+        $object->firstName = array('Bernhard');
+
+        $this->assertNull($this->propertyAccessor->getValue($object, 'firstName[1]'));
+        $this->assertSame(array('Bernhard'), $object->firstName);
+    }
+
     public function testGetValueIgnoresSingular()
     {
         $this->markTestSkipped('This feature is temporarily disabled as of 2.1');