diff --git a/src/client/gettext.cpp b/src/client/gettext.cpp
index 711c7d1dfa..d749602546 100644
--- a/src/client/gettext.cpp
+++ b/src/client/gettext.cpp
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ namespace lyx {
 
 namespace {
 
-Messages & getLyXMessages()
+Messages const & getLyXMessages()
 {
 	static Messages lyx_messages;