diff --git a/src/TTMessageController.m b/src/TTMessageController.m
index 7277c8bd51..1fbb49ebcd 100644
--- a/src/TTMessageController.m
+++ b/src/TTMessageController.m
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ - (void)setDataSource:(id<TTTableViewDataSource>)dataSource {
 - (void)setFields:(NSArray*)fields {
   if (fields != _fields) {
     [_fields release];
-    fields = [fields retain];
+    _fields = [fields retain];
     
     if (_fieldViews) {
       [self createFieldViews];