diff --git a/docs/index.html b/docs/index.html
index d493f4a53..d994fa9f9 100644
--- a/docs/index.html
+++ b/docs/index.html
@@ -3186,9 +3186,10 @@ resource) in the project.</p>
 property cannot be set, and will be ignored. This means that properties set
 outside the current project always override the properties of the current
 project.</p>
-<p>There are three ways to set properties:</p>
+<p>There are four ways to set properties:</p>
 <ul>
   <li>By supplying both the <i>name</i> and <i>value</i> attribute.</li>
+  <li>By supplying both the <i>name</i> and <i>refid</i> attribute.</li>
   <li>By setting the <i>file</i> attribute with the filename of the property
     file to load. This property file has the format as defined by the file used
     in the class java.util.Properties.</li>
@@ -3217,7 +3218,13 @@ This also holds for properties loaded from a property file.</p>
   <tr>
     <td valign="top">value</td>
     <td valign="top">the value of the property.</td>
-    <td valign="middle" align="center" rowspan="3">Yes</td>
+    <td valign="middle" align="center" rowspan="4">Yes</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">refid</td>
+    <td valign="top"><a href="#references">Reference</a> to an object
+      defined elsewhere. Only yields reasonable results for references
+      to <a href="#path">PATH like structures</a> or properties.</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td valign="top">resource</td>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Property.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Property.java
index 5a8170681..74f104da9 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Property.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Property.java
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
 package org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs;
 
 import org.apache.tools.ant.*;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.types.Reference;
 import java.io.*;
 import java.util.*;
 
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ public class Property extends Task {
     String value;
     File file;
     String resource;
+    private Reference ref = null;
 
     boolean userProperty=false; // set read-only properties
 
@@ -99,6 +101,14 @@ public class Property extends Task {
         return file;
     }
 
+    public void setRefid(Reference ref) {
+        this.ref = ref;
+    }
+
+    public Reference getRefid() {
+        return ref;
+    }
+
     public void setResource(String resource) {
         this.resource = resource;
     }
@@ -107,6 +117,10 @@ public class Property extends Task {
         return resource;
     }
 
+    public String toString() {
+        return value == null ? "" : value;
+    }
+
     public void execute() throws BuildException {
         try {
             if ((name != null) && (value != null)) {
@@ -117,6 +131,13 @@ public class Property extends Task {
 
             if (resource != null) loadResource(resource);
 
+            if ((name != null) && (ref != null)) {
+                Object obj = ref.getReferencedObject(getProject());
+                if (obj != null) {
+                    addProperty(name, obj.toString());
+                }
+            }
+
         } catch (Exception e) {
             throw new BuildException(e, location);
         }