diff --git a/app/interactions/actions/contact_update.rb b/app/interactions/actions/contact_update.rb
index 1a5b0cd16..910e4f0a2 100644
--- a/app/interactions/actions/contact_update.rb
+++ b/app/interactions/actions/contact_update.rb
@@ -111,8 +111,7 @@ module Actions
       contact.attributes = new_attributes
 
       email_changed = contact.will_save_change_to_email?
-      old_email = contact.email_was
-      contact.email_history = old_email
+      contact.email_history = contact.email_was
       updated = contact.save
 
       if updated && email_changed && contact.registrant?