diff --git a/themes/edx.org/lms/templates/emails/activation_email.txt b/themes/edx.org/lms/templates/emails/activation_email.txt
index 3b912f6fa7..b916c3ca93 100644
--- a/themes/edx.org/lms/templates/emails/activation_email.txt
+++ b/themes/edx.org/lms/templates/emails/activation_email.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <%! from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _ %>
 ${_("Thank you for creating an account with {platform_name}!").format(platform_name=settings.PLATFORM_NAME)}
-"There’s just one more step before you can enroll in a course: "
+${_("There's just one more step before you can enroll in a course: "
     "You need to activate your {platform_name} account. To activate "
     "your account, click the following link. If that doesn't work, "
     "copy and paste the link into your browser's address bar.").format(