diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/combined_open_ended_rubric.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/combined_open_ended_rubric.py
index 07844aec35..e0e6b33826 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/combined_open_ended_rubric.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/combined_open_ended_rubric.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ class CombinedOpenEndedRubric(object):
     def __init__ (self, system, view_only = False):
         self.has_score = False
         self.view_only = view_only
-        self.system
+        self.system = system
 
     '''
     render_rubric: takes in an xml string and outputs the corresponding