diff --git a/modules/update/update.fetch.inc b/modules/update/update.fetch.inc
index a3af87f7b3b50fe2403d94cec9498ad178b8bed1..7a3a9765ebe5a583434d80ea2bc2c49cd50914f0 100644
--- a/modules/update/update.fetch.inc
+++ b/modules/update/update.fetch.inc
@@ -28,9 +28,7 @@ function _update_refresh() {
 
   $available = array();
   $data = array();
-  $site_key = '';
-  $drupal_private_key = variable_get('drupal_private_key', '');
-  $site_key = md5($base_url . $drupal_private_key);
+  $site_key = md5($base_url . drupal_get_private_key());
   $projects = update_get_projects();
 
   foreach ($projects as $key => $project) {