diff --git a/wrap/Argument.cpp b/wrap/Argument.cpp
index 52d9ca0b5..01da3a756 100644
--- a/wrap/Argument.cpp
+++ b/wrap/Argument.cpp
@@ -75,16 +75,22 @@ void Argument::matlab_unwrap(FileWriter& file, const string& matlabName) const {
 
   string cppType = type.qualifiedName("::");
   string matlabUniqueType = type.qualifiedName();
+  bool isNotScalar = !Argument::isScalar();
+
+  // We cannot handle scalar non const references
+  if (!isNotScalar && is_ref && !is_const) {
+    throw std::runtime_error("Cannot unwrap a scalar non-const reference");
+  }
 
   if (is_ptr && type.category != Qualified::EIGEN)
     // A pointer: emit an "unwrap_shared_ptr" call which returns a pointer
     file.oss << "boost::shared_ptr<" << cppType << "> " << name
         << " = unwrap_shared_ptr< ";
-  else if (is_ref && type.category != Qualified::EIGEN)
+  else if (is_ref && isNotScalar && type.category != Qualified::EIGEN)
     // A reference: emit an "unwrap_shared_ptr" call and de-reference the pointer
     file.oss << cppType << "& " << name << " = *unwrap_shared_ptr< ";
   else
-    // Not a pointer or a reference: emit an "unwrap" call
+    // Not a pointer, or a reference to a scalar type. Therefore, emit an "unwrap" call
     // unwrap is specified in matlab.h as a series of template specializations
     // that know how to unpack the expected MATLAB object
     // example: double tol = unwrap< double >(in[2]);
@@ -92,7 +98,7 @@ void Argument::matlab_unwrap(FileWriter& file, const string& matlabName) const {
     file.oss << cppType << " " << name << " = unwrap< ";
 
   file.oss << cppType << " >(" << matlabName;
-  if( (is_ptr || is_ref) && type.category != Qualified::EIGEN)
+  if( (is_ptr || is_ref) && isNotScalar && type.category != Qualified::EIGEN)
     file.oss << ", \"ptr_" << matlabUniqueType << "\"";
   file.oss << ");" << endl;
 }