diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Session/Stow.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Session/Stow.pm
index ef6efd84f..b9717f697 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Session/Stow.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Session/Stow.pm
@@ -109,6 +109,18 @@ sub get {
 	my $self = shift;
 	my $var = shift;
 	return undef if $self->session->config->get("disableCache");
+    my $ref = $self->{_data}{$var};
+    if (ref $ref eq 'ARRAY') {
+        my @safeArray = @{ $ref };
+        return \@safeArray;
+    }
+    elsif (ref $ref eq 'HASH') {
+        my %safeHash = %{ $ref };
+        return \%safeHash;
+    }
+    else {
+        return $ref
+    }
 	return $self->{_data}{$var};
 }
 
diff --git a/t/Session/Stow.t b/t/Session/Stow.t
index 0475f0691..2e13d5d82 100644
--- a/t/Session/Stow.t
+++ b/t/Session/Stow.t
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ my $milList = $stow->get("military");
 
 push @{ $milList }, qw/foxtrot echo/;
 
-is_deeply($stow->get("military"), [ @orig_list, qw/foxtrot echo/ ], "modifying fetched list changes stow'ed list because it is a reference");
+is_deeply($stow->get("military"), [ @orig_list ], "modifying fetched list does not change original because it is a safe copy");
 
 is($stow->delete(), undef, 'deleting with no key returns undef');
 is($stow->delete('noSuchKey'), undef, 'deleting non-existant variable returns undef');