diff --git a/dumux/geometry/geometricentityset.hh b/dumux/geometry/geometricentityset.hh
index 993c16209dd957a3c3f4ae3b8a91eac199496bf1..69f7fe21a27491d5a9ab86437c8c62a4dc44e746 100644
--- a/dumux/geometry/geometricentityset.hh
+++ b/dumux/geometry/geometricentityset.hh
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ public:
     /*!
      * \brief get an entity from an index
      */
-    Entity entity(std::size_t index) const
+    const Entity& entity(std::size_t index) const
     { assert(index < entities_.size()); return entities_[index]; }
 
 private: