diff --git a/gas/ChangeLog b/gas/ChangeLog
index b0a1966dfa2..2bee1d0acb6 100644
--- a/gas/ChangeLog
+++ b/gas/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2010-12-04  Maciej W. Rozycki  <macro@codesourcery.com>
+
+	PR gas/12282
+	* expr.c (expr_build_dot): Make a clone of the symbol to return if
+	needed.
+
 2010-12-02  Richard Sandiford  <richard.sandiford@linaro.org>
 
 	* symbols.c (S_FORCE_RELOC): Return true for indirect functions
diff --git a/gas/expr.c b/gas/expr.c
index f818ad389af..52eb472441c 100644
--- a/gas/expr.c
+++ b/gas/expr.c
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ expr_build_dot (void)
   expressionS e;
 
   current_location (&e);
-  return make_expr_symbol (&e);
+  return symbol_clone_if_forward_ref (make_expr_symbol (&e));
 }
 
 /* Build any floating-point literal here.