diff --git a/hphp/compiler/analysis/emitter.cpp b/hphp/compiler/analysis/emitter.cpp
index f6652e4e7..0c1a17ba8 100644
--- a/hphp/compiler/analysis/emitter.cpp
+++ b/hphp/compiler/analysis/emitter.cpp
@@ -5241,10 +5241,17 @@ void EmitterVisitor::emitPostponedMeths() {
           initScalar(dv, vNode);
           pi.setDefaultValue(dv);
 
-          // Simple case: it's a scalar value so we just serialize it
-          VariableSerializer vs(VariableSerializer::PHPOutput);
-          String result = vs.serialize(tvAsCVarRef(&dv), true);
-          phpCode = StringData::GetStaticString(result.data());
+          std::string orig = vNode->getComment();
+          if (orig.empty()) {
+            // Simple case: it's a scalar value so we just serialize it
+            VariableSerializer vs(VariableSerializer::PHPOutput);
+            String result = vs.serialize(tvAsCVarRef(&dv), true);
+            phpCode = StringData::GetStaticString(result.get());
+          } else {
+            // This was optimized from a Constant, or ClassConstant
+            // use the original string
+            phpCode = StringData::GetStaticString(orig);
+          }
         } else {
           // Non-scalar, so we have to output PHP from the AST node
           std::ostringstream os;
diff --git a/hphp/compiler/expression/constant_expression.h b/hphp/compiler/expression/constant_expression.h
index 4f3fe0c11..c44e8432c 100644
--- a/hphp/compiler/expression/constant_expression.h
+++ b/hphp/compiler/expression/constant_expression.h
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public:
   void pushConst(const std::string &name);
   void popConst();
   void setComment(const std::string &comment) { m_comment = comment;}
-  const std::string getComment() { return m_comment;}
+  std::string getComment() { return m_comment;}
   bool isValid() const { return m_valid; }
   bool isDynamic() const { return m_dynamic; }
 private:
diff --git a/hphp/compiler/expression/expression.h b/hphp/compiler/expression/expression.h
index a23562f6c..4cbac592e 100644
--- a/hphp/compiler/expression/expression.h
+++ b/hphp/compiler/expression/expression.h
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@ public:
   }
   bool hasSubExpr(ExpressionPtr sub) const;
   virtual void setComment(const std::string &) {}
+  virtual std::string getComment() { return ""; }
   /**
    * Set this expression's error flags.
    */
diff --git a/hphp/compiler/expression/scalar_expression.h b/hphp/compiler/expression/scalar_expression.h
index d7eb90c58..e0f527db3 100644
--- a/hphp/compiler/expression/scalar_expression.h
+++ b/hphp/compiler/expression/scalar_expression.h
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ public:
   int64_t getHash() const;
 
   void setComment(const std::string &comment) { m_comment = comment;}
-  const std::string getComment() { return m_comment;}
+  std::string getComment() { return m_comment;}
 
 
   bool getString(const std::string *&s) const;