diff --git a/yoga/YGFloatOptional.cpp b/yoga/YGFloatOptional.cpp
index ceee1dc2..d3407fa2 100644
--- a/yoga/YGFloatOptional.cpp
+++ b/yoga/YGFloatOptional.cpp
@@ -20,9 +20,7 @@ YGFloatOptional::YGFloatOptional(float value) {
   }
 }
 
-YGFloatOptional::YGFloatOptional() : value_(0), isUndefined_(true) {}
-
-const float& YGFloatOptional::getValue() const {
+float YGFloatOptional::getValue() const {
   if (isUndefined_) {
     // Abort, accessing a value of an undefined float optional
     std::cerr << "Tried to get value of an undefined YGFloatOptional\n";
diff --git a/yoga/YGFloatOptional.h b/yoga/YGFloatOptional.h
index d426d849..114f3577 100644
--- a/yoga/YGFloatOptional.h
+++ b/yoga/YGFloatOptional.h
@@ -14,12 +14,12 @@ struct YGFloatOptional {
 
  public:
   explicit YGFloatOptional(float value);
-  explicit YGFloatOptional();
+  explicit YGFloatOptional() : value_(0), isUndefined_(true) {}
 
   // Program will terminate if the value of an undefined is accessed. Please
   // make sure to check if the optional is defined before calling this function.
   // To check if float optional is defined, use `isUndefined()`.
-  const float& getValue() const;
+  float getValue() const;
 
   // Sets the value of float optional, and thus isUndefined is assigned false.
   void setValue(float val) {