diff --git a/gcc/dbxout.c b/gcc/dbxout.c
index 4d0276a1d11..558fb5930f0 100644
--- a/gcc/dbxout.c
+++ b/gcc/dbxout.c
@@ -1572,7 +1572,8 @@ dbxout_symbol (decl, local)
 	  /* Effectively do build_pointer_type, but don't cache this type,
 	     since it might be temporary whereas the type it points to
 	     might have been saved for inlining.  */
-	  type = make_node (REFERENCE_TYPE);
+	  /* Don't use REFERENCE_TYPE because dbx can't handle that.  */
+	  type = make_node (POINTER_TYPE);
 	  TREE_TYPE (type) = TREE_TYPE (decl);
 	}
       else if (GET_CODE (DECL_RTL (decl)) == MEM