diff --git a/src/libcore/os.rs b/src/libcore/os.rs
index a9a7e94b08fee74609d3ac21a582a829ad65b670..6a44f931c23c364fa9c105f1052353497c9350ea 100644
--- a/src/libcore/os.rs
+++ b/src/libcore/os.rs
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ fn secondary() -> Option<Path> {
 
     #[cfg(windows)]
     fn secondary() -> Option<Path> {
-        do option::chain(getenv(~"USERPROFILE")) |p| {
+        do option::chain(&getenv(~"USERPROFILE")) |p| {
             if !str::is_empty(p) {
                 Some(Path(p))
             } else {