diff --git a/glib/gvariant.c b/glib/gvariant.c
index a9c34d460..85bb1ca90 100644
--- a/glib/gvariant.c
+++ b/glib/gvariant.c
@@ -5446,6 +5446,10 @@ g_variant_get_child (GVariant    *value,
   GVariant *child;
   va_list ap;
 
+  /* if any direct-pointer-access formats are in use, flatten first */
+  if (strchr (format_string, '&'))
+    g_variant_get_data (value);
+
   child = g_variant_get_child_value (value, index_);
   g_return_if_fail (valid_format_string (format_string, TRUE, child));