<?php class y { public $bar; } class x { private $bar = "asd"; private static $set = 12; private static $hm = "asd"; private static $heh; public static function go() { self::$heh = array(); self::$heh->bar = 0; // we should know this can't affect $this->bar } public function get() { var_dump(is_string($this->bar)); return $this->bar; } } (new x())->get(); x::go();