diff --git a/Eigen/src/Geometry/Quaternion.h b/Eigen/src/Geometry/Quaternion.h
index 3e5a9badb..c3fd8c3e0 100644
--- a/Eigen/src/Geometry/Quaternion.h
+++ b/Eigen/src/Geometry/Quaternion.h
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ class QuaternionBase : public RotationBase<Derived, 3>
   typedef typename internal::traits<Derived>::Scalar Scalar;
   typedef typename NumTraits<Scalar>::Real RealScalar;
   typedef typename internal::traits<Derived>::Coefficients Coefficients;
+  typedef typename Coefficients::CoeffReturnType CoeffReturnType;
+  typedef typename internal::conditional<bool(internal::traits<Derived>::Flags&LvalueBit),
+                                        Scalar&, CoeffReturnType>::type NonConstCoeffReturnType;
+
+
   enum {
     Flags = Eigen::internal::traits<Derived>::Flags
   };
@@ -58,22 +63,22 @@ class QuaternionBase : public RotationBase<Derived, 3>
 
 
   /** \returns the \c x coefficient */
-  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline Scalar x() const { return this->derived().coeffs().coeff(0); }
+  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline CoeffReturnType x() const { return this->derived().coeffs().coeff(0); }
   /** \returns the \c y coefficient */
-  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline Scalar y() const { return this->derived().coeffs().coeff(1); }
+  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline CoeffReturnType y() const { return this->derived().coeffs().coeff(1); }
   /** \returns the \c z coefficient */
-  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline Scalar z() const { return this->derived().coeffs().coeff(2); }
+  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline CoeffReturnType z() const { return this->derived().coeffs().coeff(2); }
   /** \returns the \c w coefficient */
-  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline Scalar w() const { return this->derived().coeffs().coeff(3); }
+  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline CoeffReturnType w() const { return this->derived().coeffs().coeff(3); }
 
-  /** \returns a reference to the \c x coefficient */
-  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline Scalar& x() { return this->derived().coeffs().coeffRef(0); }
-  /** \returns a reference to the \c y coefficient */
-  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline Scalar& y() { return this->derived().coeffs().coeffRef(1); }
-  /** \returns a reference to the \c z coefficient */
-  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline Scalar& z() { return this->derived().coeffs().coeffRef(2); }
-  /** \returns a reference to the \c w coefficient */
-  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline Scalar& w() { return this->derived().coeffs().coeffRef(3); }
+  /** \returns a reference to the \c x coefficient (if Derived is a non-const lvalue) */
+  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline NonConstCoeffReturnType x() { return this->derived().coeffs().x(); }
+  /** \returns a reference to the \c y coefficient (if Derived is a non-const lvalue) */
+  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline NonConstCoeffReturnType y() { return this->derived().coeffs().y(); }
+  /** \returns a reference to the \c z coefficient (if Derived is a non-const lvalue) */
+  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline NonConstCoeffReturnType z() { return this->derived().coeffs().z(); }
+  /** \returns a reference to the \c w coefficient (if Derived is a non-const lvalue) */
+  EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline NonConstCoeffReturnType w() { return this->derived().coeffs().w(); }
 
   /** \returns a read-only vector expression of the imaginary part (x,y,z) */
   EIGEN_DEVICE_FUNC inline const VectorBlock<const Coefficients,3> vec() const { return coeffs().template head<3>(); }
diff --git a/test/geo_quaternion.cpp b/test/geo_quaternion.cpp
index 96889e722..8ee8fdb27 100644
--- a/test/geo_quaternion.cpp
+++ b/test/geo_quaternion.cpp
@@ -231,6 +231,19 @@ template<typename Scalar> void mapQuaternion(void){
   VERIFY_IS_APPROX(mq3*mq2, q3*q2);
   VERIFY_IS_APPROX(mcq1*mq2, q1*q2);
   VERIFY_IS_APPROX(mcq3*mq2, q3*q2);
+
+  // Bug 1461, compilation issue with Map<const Quat>::w(), and other reference/constness checks:
+  VERIFY_IS_APPROX(mcq3.coeffs().x() + mcq3.coeffs().y() + mcq3.coeffs().z() + mcq3.coeffs().w(), mcq3.coeffs().sum());
+  VERIFY_IS_APPROX(mcq3.x() + mcq3.y() + mcq3.z() + mcq3.w(), mcq3.coeffs().sum());
+  mq3.w() = 1;
+  const Quaternionx& cq3(q3);
+  VERIFY( &cq3.x() == &q3.x() );
+  const MQuaternionUA& cmq3(mq3);
+  VERIFY( &cmq3.x() == &mq3.x() );
+  // FIXME the following should be ok. The problem is that currently the LValueBit flag
+  // is used to determine wether we can return a coeff by reference or not, which is not enough for Map<const ...>.
+  //const MCQuaternionUA& cmcq3(mcq3);
+  //VERIFY( &cmcq3.x() == &mcq3.x() );
 }
 
 template<typename Scalar> void quaternionAlignment(void){