diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/modulestore/xml.py b/common/lib/xmodule/modulestore/xml.py
index eb23de2e46..d4e90d59a4 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/modulestore/xml.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/modulestore/xml.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ class XMLModuleStore(ModuleStore):
 
                     XMLParsingSystem.__init__(self, modulestore.get_item, OSFS(data_dir), process_xml)
 
-            ImportSystem(self).process_xml(course_file.read())
+            self.course = ImportSystem(self).process_xml(course_file.read())
 
     def get_item(self, location):
         """