diff --git a/include/libtorrent/alert_types.hpp b/include/libtorrent/alert_types.hpp
index 7050ac2cc..fe15a3fae 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/alert_types.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/alert_types.hpp
@@ -2395,7 +2395,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		void* userdata;
 		udp::endpoint addr;
 
-		void response(bdecode_node& ret) const;
+		bdecode_node response() const;
 
 	private:
 		aux::stack_allocator& m_alloc;
diff --git a/src/alert.cpp b/src/alert.cpp
index 9a407bcf0..8d53a3b04 100644
--- a/src/alert.cpp
+++ b/src/alert.cpp
@@ -1848,13 +1848,15 @@ namespace libtorrent {
 		return msg;
 	}
 
-	void dht_direct_response_alert::response(bdecode_node& ret) const
+	bdecode_node dht_direct_response_alert::response() const
 	{
 		char const* start = m_alloc.ptr(m_response_idx);
 		char const* end = start + m_response_size;
 		error_code ec;
+		bdecode_node ret;
 		bdecode(start, end, ret, ec);
 		TORRENT_ASSERT(!ec);
+		return ret;
 	}
 
 } // namespace libtorrent