diff --git a/gcc/rust/hir/tree/rust-hir-path.h b/gcc/rust/hir/tree/rust-hir-path.h
index f390b43ca0ba..c07448060431 100644
--- a/gcc/rust/hir/tree/rust-hir-path.h
+++ b/gcc/rust/hir/tree/rust-hir-path.h
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ class PathPattern : public Pattern
 
   PathExprSegment &get_root_seg () { return segments.at (0); }
 
-  PathExprSegment get_final_segment () const { return segments.back (); }
+  const PathExprSegment &get_final_segment () const { return segments.back (); }
 
   PatternType get_pattern_type () const override final
   {