diff --git a/ext/standard/array.c b/ext/standard/array.c
index a2fef8b14528..07ebd13e4282 100644
--- a/ext/standard/array.c
+++ b/ext/standard/array.c
@@ -6628,7 +6628,7 @@ static zend_result php_array_find(const HashTable *array, zend_fcall_info fci, z
 
 			if (retval_true) {
 				if (result_value != NULL) {
-					ZVAL_COPY(result_value, &args[0]);
+					ZVAL_COPY_DEREF(result_value, &args[0]);
 				}
 
 				if (result_key != NULL) {
diff --git a/ext/standard/tests/array/gh15982.phpt b/ext/standard/tests/array/gh15982.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2eb9eceb2318
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/standard/tests/array/gh15982.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+--TEST--
+GH-15982 (Assertion failure with array_find when references are involved)
+--FILE--
+<?php
+$var = "hello";
+$arrayWithRef = [];
+$arrayWithRef[0] =& $var;
+var_dump(array_find($arrayWithRef, fn () => true));
+?>
+--EXPECT--
+string(5) "hello"