diff --git a/flang/lib/Semantics/expression.cpp b/flang/lib/Semantics/expression.cpp
index e139bda7e4950..e5a9aef96c1c7 100644
--- a/flang/lib/Semantics/expression.cpp
+++ b/flang/lib/Semantics/expression.cpp
@@ -421,7 +421,8 @@ static void CheckSubscripts(
 
 static void CheckSubscripts(
     semantics::SemanticsContext &context, CoarrayRef &ref) {
-  const Symbol &coarraySymbol{ref.GetBase().GetLastSymbol()};
+  const auto &base{ref.GetBase()};
+  const Symbol &coarraySymbol{base.GetLastSymbol()};
   Shape lb, ub;
   if (FoldSubscripts(context, coarraySymbol, ref.subscript(), lb, ub)) {
     ValidateSubscripts(context, coarraySymbol, ref.subscript(), lb, ub);