diff --git a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBEntryAdaptor.pm b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBEntryAdaptor.pm
index 5228ba073ce4aeac8c157cd7fc2c6b31a115a559..63f66cfcd4adb79bfe7c4cecc2aa801baba715f9 100644
--- a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBEntryAdaptor.pm
+++ b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBEntryAdaptor.pm
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ sub store {
     my $synonyms = $exObj->get_all_synonyms();
     foreach my $syn ( @$synonyms ) {	    
       $synonym_check_sth->execute($dbX, $syn);
-      my ($dbSyn) = $sth->fetchrow_array();
+      my ($dbSyn) = $synonym_check_sth->fetchrow_array(); 
       $synonym_store_sth->execute($dbX, $syn) if(!$dbSyn);
     }