Index: wp-includes/widgets.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/widgets.php	(revision 1817)
+++ wp-includes/widgets.php	(working copy)
@@ -967,7 +967,7 @@
 		if ( empty($_wp_sidebars_widgets) )
 			$sidebars_widgets = get_option('sidebars_widgets', array());
 		else
-			$sidebars_widgets = &$_wp_sidebars_widgets;
+			$sidebars_widgets = $_wp_sidebars_widgets;
 	}
 	$_sidebars_widgets = array();
 
@@ -1029,13 +1029,16 @@
 				while ( ( $sidebar = array_shift( $sidebars ) ) && $widgets = array_shift( $sidebars_widgets ) )
 					$_sidebars_widgets[ $sidebar ] = $widgets;
 
-				$_sidebars_widgets['array_version'] = 3;
 				$sidebars_widgets = $_sidebars_widgets;
 				unset($_sidebars_widgets);
 			}
-
+			
+			$sidebars_widgets['array_version'] = 3;
+			
 			if ( $update && is_admin() )
 				update_option('sidebars_widgets', $sidebars_widgets);
+		
+			$_wp_sidebars_widgets = $sidebars_widgets;
 	}
 
 	if ( isset($sidebars_widgets['array_version']) )