Index: src/com/caucho/quercus/lib/VariableModule.java
===================================================================
--- src/com/caucho/quercus/lib/VariableModule.java	(revision 4182)
+++ src/com/caucho/quercus/lib/VariableModule.java	(working copy)
@@ -665,7 +665,7 @@
 	return v;
     }
     
-    boolean useReference = s.indexOf("R:") > 0;
+    boolean useReference = s.indexOf("R:") > 0 || s.indexOf("r:") > 0;
 
     UnserializeReader is = null;
 
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@
       v = BooleanValue.FALSE;
     }
 
-    if (! is.hasReference()) {
+    if (is != null && ! is.hasReference()) {
       entry = new UnserializeCacheEntry(v);
       
       _unserializeCache.put(s, entry);
Index: src/com/caucho/quercus/lib/UnserializeReader.java
===================================================================
--- src/com/caucho/quercus/lib/UnserializeReader.java	(revision 4182)
+++ src/com/caucho/quercus/lib/UnserializeReader.java	(working copy)
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@
         }
 
         if (ch != ';')
-          throw new IOException(L.l("expected ';'"));
+          throw new IOException(L.l("expected ';' (index: '{0}')", String.valueOf(_index)));
 
         Value value = new DoubleValue(Double.parseDouble(sb.toString()));
         
@@ -301,6 +301,7 @@
 
         return value;
       }
+    case 'r':
     case 'R':
       {
 	_hasReference = true;
@@ -311,7 +312,25 @@
 
         expect(';');
 
-        return _valueList.get(value - 1);
+        if (_useReference) {
+          Value dummyval = createReference(BooleanValue.create(Boolean.FALSE));
+        
+	  _valueList.add(dummyval);
+	}
+
+
+        if (value < _valueList.size())
+          return _valueList.get(value - 1);
+        else
+        {
+          throw new IOException(L.l("reference id '{0}' not found in list (max id: {1}, parse index: {2})", 
+              String.valueOf(value), 
+              String.valueOf(_valueList.size()), 
+              String.valueOf(_index)));
+        }
+
+
+
       }
 
     default:
@@ -513,6 +532,7 @@
         return;
       }
 
+      case 'r':
       case 'R':
       {
         _referenceList.add(Boolean.FALSE);
@@ -594,9 +614,10 @@
     int ch = read();
     
     if (ch != 's' && ch != 'S') {
-      throw new IOException(L.l("expected 's' at '{1}' (0x{2})",
+      throw new IOException(L.l("expected 's' at '{0}' (0x{1}, index: '{2}')",
                                 String.valueOf((char) ch),
-                                Integer.toHexString(ch)));
+                                Integer.toHexString(ch),
+                                String.valueOf(this._index)));
     }
 
     expect(':');
@@ -629,11 +650,12 @@
       if (_index < _buffer.length)
         context += _buffer[_index];
       
-      throw new IOException(L.l("expected '{0}' at '{1}' (0x{2}) (context '{3}')",
+      throw new IOException(L.l("expected '{0}' at '{1}' (0x{2}) (context '{3}', index: '{4}')",
                                 String.valueOf((char) expectCh),
                                 String.valueOf((char) ch),
                                 Integer.toHexString(ch),
-                                context));
+                                context, 
+                                String.valueOf(_index)));
     }
   }