diff --git a/app/controllers/user_controller.rb b/app/controllers/user_controller.rb
index b56b58433..375ac8131 100644
--- a/app/controllers/user_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/user_controller.rb
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ class UserController < ApplicationController
   ##
   # sets a user's status
   def set_status
-    @this_user.status => params[:status]
+    @this_user.status = params[:status]
     redirect_to :controller => 'user', :action => 'view', :display_name => params[:display_name]
   end