diff --git a/Bugzilla/Util.pm b/Bugzilla/Util.pm
index da1a74272..d583de817 100644
--- a/Bugzilla/Util.pm
+++ b/Bugzilla/Util.pm
@@ -844,7 +844,7 @@ sub xml_dump_type
 {
     if (ref $_[0])
     {
-        ref $_[0] =~ /^(?:([^=]*)=)?([^=\(]*)\(/;
+        ref($_[0]) =~ /^(?:([^=]*)=)?([^=\(]*)\(/;
         my $r = { type => $2 };
         $r->{class} = $1 if $1;
         return $r;