diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/backcompat_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/backcompat_module.py
index c49f23b99e..d9f10ffba0 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/backcompat_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/backcompat_module.py
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ class SemanticSectionDescriptor(XModuleDescriptor):
 
             return system.process_xml(etree.tostring(xml_object[0]))
         else:
-            xml_object.tag = 'sequence'
+            xml_object.tag = 'sequential'
             return system.process_xml(etree.tostring(xml_object))