You're right (just tested it). That's pretty weird behavior, and unfortunately, I'm not sure exactly whose fault it is. :)

Here's another (better?) way to fix it: put it in double quotes to force it into string context:

    print $dbh->quote("$p->{test}");
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This fixes it for me. If you do use this, I'd investigate it more to figure out *why* this fixes it, so as not to be burned by any future changes that could screw this up.