diff --git a/lib/elixir/src/elixir_quote.erl b/lib/elixir/src/elixir_quote.erl
index d4f0815fdc..3f872cd794 100644
--- a/lib/elixir/src/elixir_quote.erl
+++ b/lib/elixir/src/elixir_quote.erl
@@ -164,15 +164,7 @@ do_escape(BitString, _) when is_bitstring(BitString) ->
   end;
 
 do_escape(Map, Q) when is_map(Map) ->
-  TT =
-    [if
-      is_reference(V) ->
-        argument_error(<<('Elixir.Kernel':inspect(Map, []))/binary, " contains a reference (",
-                         ('Elixir.Kernel':inspect(V, []))/binary, ") and therefore it cannot be escaped ",
-                         "(it must be defined within a function instead). ", (bad_escape_hint())/binary>>);
-      true ->
-        {do_quote(K, Q), do_quote(V, Q)}
-     end || {K, V} <- lists:sort(maps:to_list(Map))],
+  TT = [escape_map_key_value(K, V, Map, Q) || {K, V} <- lists:sort(maps:to_list(Map))],
   {'%{}', [], TT};
 
 do_escape([], _) ->
@@ -206,6 +198,28 @@ do_escape(Fun, _) when is_function(Fun) ->
 do_escape(Other, _) ->
   bad_escape(Other).
 
+escape_map_key_value(K, V, Map, Q) ->
+  MaybeRef = if
+    is_reference(V) -> V;
+    is_tuple(V) -> find_tuple_ref(V, 1);
+    true -> nil
+  end,
+  if
+    is_reference(MaybeRef) ->
+      argument_error(<<('Elixir.Kernel':inspect(Map, []))/binary, " contains a reference (",
+                        ('Elixir.Kernel':inspect(MaybeRef, []))/binary, ") and therefore it cannot be escaped ",
+                        "(it must be defined within a function instead). ", (bad_escape_hint())/binary>>);
+    true ->
+      {do_quote(K, Q), do_quote(V, Q)}
+    end.
+
+find_tuple_ref(Tuple, Index) when Index > tuple_size(Tuple) -> nil;
+find_tuple_ref(Tuple, Index) ->
+  case element(Index, Tuple) of
+    Ref when is_reference(Ref) -> Ref;
+    _ -> find_tuple_ref(Tuple, Index + 1)
+  end.
+
 bad_escape(Arg) ->
   argument_error(<<"cannot escape ", ('Elixir.Kernel':inspect(Arg, []))/binary, ". ",
                    (bad_escape_hint())/binary>>).
diff --git a/lib/elixir/test/elixir/macro_test.exs b/lib/elixir/test/elixir/macro_test.exs
index 6c1503c74e..e53111362c 100644
--- a/lib/elixir/test/elixir/macro_test.exs
+++ b/lib/elixir/test/elixir/macro_test.exs
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ defmodule MacroTest do
 
     test "inspects container when a reference cannot be escaped" do
       assert_raise ArgumentError, ~r"~r/foo/ contains a reference", fn ->
-        Macro.escape(%{~r/foo/ | re_pattern: make_ref()})
+        Macro.escape(%{~r/foo/ | re_pattern: {:re_pattern, 0, 0, 0, make_ref()}})
       end
     end
   end