diff --git a/CVSROOT/commitcheck.pl b/CVSROOT/commitcheck.pl
index bf2ee2c219a..a08dc6877b6 100755
--- a/CVSROOT/commitcheck.pl
+++ b/CVSROOT/commitcheck.pl
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ foreach $f (@files) {
         print STDERR "GetT returned '$t' for '$repository/$f' branch '$b'\n";
     }
     if ($t eq "") {
-        $t = "default";
+        $t = $defaultid;
     }
     if (!defined $mode{$t} || $mode{$t} eq "Open") {
         next;