diff --git a/pyext/GModel.i b/pyext/GModel.i
index 955b795..36403c5 100644
--- a/pyext/GModel.i
+++ b/pyext/GModel.i
@@ -65,13 +65,13 @@ public:
     char *__str__() {
         return tochar(self->print());
     }
-    GModelPar __getitem__(const int& index) {
+    GModelPar& __getitem__(const int& index) {
         if (index >= 0 && index < self->size())
             return (*self)[index];
         else
             throw GException::out_of_range("__getitem__(int)", index, self->size());
     }
-    GModelPar __getitem__(const std::string& name) {
+    GModelPar& __getitem__(const std::string& name) {
         return (*self)[name];
     }
     void __setitem__(const int& index, const GModelPar& val) {