diff --git a/cake/libs/model/cake_schema.php b/cake/libs/model/cake_schema.php
index 43dede8e7..49e542200 100644
--- a/cake/libs/model/cake_schema.php
+++ b/cake/libs/model/cake_schema.php
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ class CakeSchema extends Object {
 		}
 
 		if (class_exists($class)) {
-			$Schema =& new $class($options);
+			$Schema = new $class($options);
 			return $Schema;
 		}
 		$false = false;
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ class CakeSchema extends Object {
 			),
 			$options
 		));
-		$db =& ConnectionManager::getDataSource($connection);
+		$db = ConnectionManager::getDataSource($connection);
 
 		App::import('Model', 'AppModel');
 		if (isset($this->plugin)) {
@@ -232,11 +232,7 @@ class CakeSchema extends Object {
 				if (isset($this->plugin)) {
 					$model = $this->plugin . '.' . $model;
 				}
-				if (PHP5) {
-					$Object = ClassRegistry::init(array('class' => $model, 'ds' => null));
-				} else {
-					$Object =& ClassRegistry::init(array('class' => $model, 'ds' => null));
-				}
+				$Object = ClassRegistry::init(array('class' => $model, 'ds' => null));
 
 				if (is_object($Object) && $Object->useTable !== false) {
 					$Object->setDataSource($connection);
@@ -359,11 +355,9 @@ class CakeSchema extends Object {
 		}
 		$out .= "}\n";
 
-		$File =& new File($path . DS . $file, true);
-		$header = '$Id';
-		$content = "<?php \n/* SVN FILE: {$header}$ */\n/* {$name} schema generated on: " . date('Y-m-d H:m:s') . " : ". time() . "*/\n{$out}?>";
-		$content = $File->prepare($content);
-		if ($File->write($content)) {
+		$file = new SplFileObject($path . DS . $file, 'w+');
+		$content = "<?php \n/* {$name} schema generated on: " . date('Y-m-d H:m:s') . " : ". time() . "*/\n{$out}?>";
+		if ($file->fwrite($content)) {
 			return $content;
 		}
 		return false;
@@ -424,7 +418,7 @@ class CakeSchema extends Object {
  */
 	public function compare($old, $new = null) {
 		if (empty($new)) {
-			$new =& $this;
+			$new = $this;
 		}
 		if (is_array($new)) {
 			if (isset($new['tables'])) {
@@ -529,7 +523,7 @@ class CakeSchema extends Object {
  * @return array Formatted columns
  */
 	public function __columns(&$Obj) {
-		$db =& ConnectionManager::getDataSource($Obj->useDbConfig);
+		$db = ConnectionManager::getDataSource($Obj->useDbConfig);
 		$fields = $Obj->schema(true);
 		$columns = $props = array();
 		foreach ($fields as $name => $value) {
diff --git a/cake/tests/cases/libs/model/cake_schema.test.php b/cake/tests/cases/libs/model/cake_schema.test.php
index 81ced839b..521e9063a 100644
--- a/cake/tests/cases/libs/model/cake_schema.test.php
+++ b/cake/tests/cases/libs/model/cake_schema.test.php
@@ -730,7 +730,7 @@ class CakeSchemaTest extends CakeTestCase {
 			),
 			'posts' => array(
 				'add' => array(
-					'summary' => array('type' => 'text', 'null' => 1),
+					'summary' => array('type' => 'text', 'null' => true),
 				),
 				'drop' => array(
 					'tableParameters' => array(),
@@ -738,7 +738,7 @@ class CakeSchemaTest extends CakeTestCase {
 				'change' => array(
 					'author_id' => array('type' => 'integer', 'null' => true, 'default' => ''),
 					'title' => array('type' => 'string', 'null' => false, 'default' => 'Title'),
-					'published' => array('type' => 'string', 'null' => true, 'default' => 'Y', 'length' => '1')
+					'published' => array('type' => 'string', 'null' => true, 'default' => 'Y', 'length' => 1)
 				)
 			),
 		);