diff --git a/uast/uast-common/src/org/jetbrains/uast/evaluation/TreeBasedEvaluator.kt b/uast/uast-common/src/org/jetbrains/uast/evaluation/TreeBasedEvaluator.kt
index 04dd6a017d5c..cd8da7a838cd 100644
--- a/uast/uast-common/src/org/jetbrains/uast/evaluation/TreeBasedEvaluator.kt
+++ b/uast/uast-common/src/org/jetbrains/uast/evaluation/TreeBasedEvaluator.kt
@@ -59,13 +59,20 @@ class TreeBasedEvaluator(
     return resultCache[expression]?.value
   }
 
-  override fun evaluate(expression: UExpression, state: UEvaluationState?): UValue {
+  override fun evaluate(expression: UExpression, state: UEvaluationState?): UValue = getEvaluationInfo(expression, state).value
+
+  private fun getEvaluationInfo(expression: UExpression, state: UEvaluationState? = null): UEvaluationInfo {
     if (state == null) {
       val result = resultCache[expression]
-      if (result != null) return result.value
+      if (result != null) return result
     }
     val inputState = state ?: inputStateCache[expression] ?: expression.createEmptyState()
-    return expression.accept(this, inputState).value
+    return expression.accept(this, inputState)
+  }
+
+  override fun evaluateVariableByReference(variableReference: UReferenceExpression, state: UEvaluationState?): UValue {
+    val target = variableReference.resolveToUElement() as? UVariable ?: return UUndeterminedValue
+    return getEvaluationInfo(variableReference, state).state[target]
   }
 
   // ----------------------- //
diff --git a/uast/uast-common/src/org/jetbrains/uast/evaluation/UEvaluator.kt b/uast/uast-common/src/org/jetbrains/uast/evaluation/UEvaluator.kt
index 037fe346c304..74238e40e5bf 100644
--- a/uast/uast-common/src/org/jetbrains/uast/evaluation/UEvaluator.kt
+++ b/uast/uast-common/src/org/jetbrains/uast/evaluation/UEvaluator.kt
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ interface UEvaluator {
 
   fun evaluate(expression: UExpression, state: UEvaluationState? = null): UValue
 
+  fun evaluateVariableByReference(variableReference: UReferenceExpression, state: UEvaluationState? = null): UValue
+
   fun getDependents(dependency: UDependency): Set<UValue>
 }