diff --git a/src/ng/compile.js b/src/ng/compile.js
index 91cf155edbbc..4bb298616c5c 100644
--- a/src/ng/compile.js
+++ b/src/ng/compile.js
@@ -942,13 +942,14 @@ function $CompileProvider($provide) {
         $element = attrs.$$element;
 
         if (newIsolateScopeDirective) {
-          var LOCAL_REGEXP = /^\s*([@=&])(\??)\s*(\w*)\s*$/;
+          var LOCAL_REGEXP = /^\s*([@=&])(\??)(\*?)\s*(\w*)\s*$/;
 
           var parentScope = scope.$parent || scope;
 
           forEach(newIsolateScopeDirective.scope, function(definition, scopeName) {
             var match = definition.match(LOCAL_REGEXP) || [],
-                attrName = match[3] || scopeName,
+                attrName = match[4] || scopeName,
+                eq = (match[3] == '*'),
                 optional = (match[2] == '?'),
                 mode = match[1], // @, =, or &
                 lastValue,
@@ -995,6 +996,11 @@ function $CompileProvider($provide) {
                       parentSet(parentScope, parentValue = lastValue = scope[scopeName]);
                     }
                   }
+
+                  if (eq) {
+                    this.eq = true;
+                  }
+
                   return parentValue;
                 });
                 break;
diff --git a/test/ng/compileSpec.js b/test/ng/compileSpec.js
index 5dfad4be7f29..e86fbb65d20b 100755
--- a/test/ng/compileSpec.js
+++ b/test/ng/compileSpec.js
@@ -2004,6 +2004,8 @@ describe('$compile', function() {
             optref: '=?',
             optrefAlias: '=? optref',
             optreference: '=?',
+            eqref: '=*',
+            eqrefAlias: '=* eqref',
             expr: '&',
             exprAlias: '&expr'
           },
@@ -2166,6 +2168,30 @@ describe('$compile', function() {
       }));
     });
 
+    describe('equality object reference', function() {
+      it('should update local reference to array when origin changes without $digest errors', inject(function() {
+        $rootScope.list = [{
+          name: 'Mark',
+          value: 45
+        }, {
+          name: 'Misko',
+          value: 52
+        }];
+        $rootScope.query = "";
+        $rootScope.$apply();
+
+        compile('<div><span my-component eqref="list | filter:query">');
+
+        expect(componentScope.eqref).toEqual($rootScope.list);
+        expect(componentScope.eqrefAlias).toEqual(componentScope.eqref);
+
+        $rootScope.query = "Ma";
+        $rootScope.$apply();
+
+        expect(componentScope.eqref).toEqual([$rootScope.list[0]]);
+        expect(componentScope.eqrefAlias).toEqual([$rootScope.list[0]]);
+      }));
+    });
 
     describe('executable expression', function() {
       it('should allow expression execution with locals', inject(function() {