diff --git a/course/versioning.py b/course/versioning.py
index 041170874e0333cb9816ff18821b5bbd6da07e5d..1e7c90a466ef5c7d3ee74e5f83cac96909c04646 100644
--- a/course/versioning.py
+++ b/course/versioning.py
@@ -264,12 +264,13 @@ def set_up_new_course(request):
                         part = Participation()
                         part.user = request.user
                         part.course = new_course
+                        part.status = participation_status.active
+                        part.save()
+
                         part.roles.set([
                             # created by signal handler for course creation
                             ParticipationRole.objects.get(identifier="instructor")
                             ])
-                        part.status = participation_status.active
-                        part.save()
 
                         # }}}