diff --git a/include/ProgressBar.h b/include/ProgressBar.h
index 649eea34..63d70677 100644
--- a/include/ProgressBar.h
+++ b/include/ProgressBar.h
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public:
 	void stop();
 	bool running() const;
 	double get_fraction() const;
-	Glib::ustring get_text() const;
+	const Glib::ustring& get_text() const;
 
 private:
 	ProgressBar( const ProgressBar & src );              // Not implemented copy constructor
diff --git a/src/ProgressBar.cc b/src/ProgressBar.cc
index 03ea45ea..25b8f774 100644
--- a/src/ProgressBar.cc
+++ b/src/ProgressBar.cc
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@ double ProgressBar::get_fraction() const
 	return m_fraction;
 }
 
-Glib::ustring ProgressBar::get_text() const
+
+const Glib::ustring& ProgressBar::get_text() const
 {
 	return m_text;
 }