diff --git a/src/OpenFOAM/fields/GeometricFields/GeometricField/GeometricBoundaryField.C b/src/OpenFOAM/fields/GeometricFields/GeometricField/GeometricBoundaryField.C
index aff9204eefe4ae764c2de34454293b1841182d52..b6cbc8ae6ed78dcd42c413aa1022e6cd4913557a 100644
--- a/src/OpenFOAM/fields/GeometricFields/GeometricField/GeometricBoundaryField.C
+++ b/src/OpenFOAM/fields/GeometricFields/GeometricField/GeometricBoundaryField.C
@@ -888,7 +888,7 @@ boundaryInternalField() const
         *this
     );
 
-    auto& result = tresult;
+    auto& result = tresult.ref();
 
     forAll(result, patchi)
     {