diff --git a/unittest/std_pair.cpp b/unittest/std_pair.cpp
index f32ff4ef..828e2da2 100644
--- a/unittest/std_pair.cpp
+++ b/unittest/std_pair.cpp
@@ -30,5 +30,5 @@ BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE(std_pair) {
   bp::def("std_pair_to_tuple", std_pair_to_tuple<int, double>);
   bp::def("copy", copy<int, double>);
   bp::def("passthrough", passthrough<int, double>,
-          bp::return_value_policy<bp::copy_const_reference>());
+          bp::return_value_policy<bp::reference_existing_object>());
 }