diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 1634189bde10f..38d3bde8a746e 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ PHP                                                                        NEWS
 - Core:
   . Added first-class callable cache to share instances for the duration of the
     request. (ilutov)
+  . It is now possible to use reference assign on WeakMap without the key
+    needing to be present beforehand. (nielsdos)
 
 - Intl:
   . Added IntlNumberRangeFormatter class to format an interval of two numbers
diff --git a/UPGRADING b/UPGRADING
index 334c0fc6bdac3..ece101e83fd5d 100644
--- a/UPGRADING
+++ b/UPGRADING
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@ PHP 8.6 UPGRADE NOTES
 2. New Features
 ========================================
 
+- Core:
+  . It is now possible to use reference assign on WeakMap without the key
+    needing to be present beforehand.
+
 - Intl:
   . Added IntlNumberRangeFormatter class to format an interval of two numbers with a given skeleton, locale, IntlNumberRangeFormatter::COLLAPSE_AUTO, IntlNumberRangeFormatter::COLLAPSE_NONE, IntlNumberRangeFormatter::COLLAPSE_UNIT, IntlNumberRangeFormatter::COLLAPSE_ALL collapse and
     IntlNumberRangeFormatter::IDENTITY_FALLBACK_SINGLE_VALUE, IntlNumberRangeFormatter::IDENTITY_FALLBACK_APPROXIMATELY_OR_SINGLE_VALUE, IntlNumberRangeFormatter::IDENTITY_FALLBACK_APPROXIMATELY and
diff --git a/Zend/tests/weakrefs/weakmap_by_ref_dimension_assign.phpt b/Zend/tests/weakrefs/weakmap_by_ref_dimension_assign.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6444de7eea6ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Zend/tests/weakrefs/weakmap_by_ref_dimension_assign.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+--TEST--
+By-ref assign of WeakMap dimension
+--FILE--
+<?php
+$obj = new stdClass;
+$map = new WeakMap;
+$int = 0;
+$map[$obj] =& $int;
+$int++;
+var_dump($map[$obj]);
+?>
+--EXPECT--
+int(1)
diff --git a/Zend/zend_weakrefs.c b/Zend/zend_weakrefs.c
index 4830089e50916..ffb93951f7f23 100644
--- a/Zend/zend_weakrefs.c
+++ b/Zend/zend_weakrefs.c
@@ -370,18 +370,25 @@ static zval *zend_weakmap_read_dimension(zend_object *object, zval *offset, int
 	zend_weakmap *wm = zend_weakmap_from(object);
 	zend_object *obj_addr = Z_OBJ_P(offset);
 	zval *zv = zend_hash_index_find(&wm->ht, zend_object_to_weakref_key(obj_addr));
-	if (zv == NULL) {
-		if (type != BP_VAR_IS) {
-			zend_throw_error(NULL,
-				"Object %s#%d not contained in WeakMap", ZSTR_VAL(obj_addr->ce->name), obj_addr->handle);
+	if (type == BP_VAR_W || type == BP_VAR_RW) {
+		if (zv == NULL) {
+			zval value;
+			zend_weakref_register(obj_addr, ZEND_WEAKREF_ENCODE(&wm->ht, ZEND_WEAKREF_TAG_MAP));
+			ZVAL_NULL(&value);
+			zv = zend_hash_index_add_new(&wm->ht, zend_object_to_weakref_key(obj_addr), &value);
+		}
+		ZVAL_MAKE_REF(zv);
+	} else {
+		if (zv == NULL) {
+			if (type != BP_VAR_IS) {
+				zend_throw_error(NULL,
+					"Object %s#%d not contained in WeakMap", ZSTR_VAL(obj_addr->ce->name), obj_addr->handle);
+				return NULL;
+			}
 			return NULL;
 		}
-		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	if (type == BP_VAR_W || type == BP_VAR_RW) {
-		ZVAL_MAKE_REF(zv);
-	}
 	return zv;
 }