diff --git a/stepmania/src/global.h b/stepmania/src/global.h
index ffcb50d28c..5be071c6bf 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/global.h
+++ b/stepmania/src/global.h
@@ -118,6 +118,8 @@ void NORETURN sm_crash( const char *reason = "Internal error" );
 /* Use CStdString: */
 #include "StdString.h"
 
+typedef const CString& CCStringRef;
+
 /* Include this here to make sure our assertion handler is always
  * used.  (This file is a dependency of most everything anyway,
  * so there's no real problem putting it here.) */