diff --git a/runtime/stack_reference.h b/runtime/stack_reference.h
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/stack_reference.h
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2016 The Android Open Source Project
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+#ifndef ART_RUNTIME_STACK_REFERENCE_H_
+#define ART_RUNTIME_STACK_REFERENCE_H_
+
+#include "base/macros.h"
+#include "mirror/object_reference.h"
+
+namespace art {
+
+// A reference from the shadow stack to a MirrorType object within the Java heap.
+template<class MirrorType>
+class PACKED(4) StackReference : public mirror::CompressedReference<MirrorType> {
+};
+
+}  // namespace art
+
+#endif  // ART_RUNTIME_STACK_REFERENCE_H_