diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 5e6df1c7..a399ba26 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+  - make $smarty.const.FOO compile to "FOO", and not to "constant('foo')".
+    this is less code and a little faster execution. note that undefined
+    constants are now displayed as the constant's name. (messju)
   - make block functions and registered objects' block methods use a
     local variable for block_content instead of a property of $smarty (messju)
   - fix escaping in the generated code that calls smarty_core_load_plugins
diff --git a/libs/Smarty_Compiler.class.php b/libs/Smarty_Compiler.class.php
index fe572d71..7d46eb44 100644
--- a/libs/Smarty_Compiler.class.php
+++ b/libs/Smarty_Compiler.class.php
@@ -2031,8 +2031,12 @@ class Smarty_Compiler extends Smarty {
                     return;
                 }
                 array_shift($indexes);
-                $_val = $this->_parse_var_props(substr($indexes[0],1));
-                $compiled_ref = '@constant(' . $_val . ')';
+                if (preg_match('!^\.\w+$!', $indexes[0])) {
+                    $compiled_ref = '@' . substr($indexes[0], 1);
+                } else {
+                    $_val = $this->_parse_var_props(substr($indexes[0], 1));
+                    $compiled_ref = '@constant(' . $_val . ')';
+                }
                 $_max_index = 1;
                 break;