diff --git a/lisp/gnus/mm-util.el b/lisp/gnus/mm-util.el
index 282465722d..3dc93e4ad4 100644
--- a/lisp/gnus/mm-util.el
+++ b/lisp/gnus/mm-util.el
@@ -137,9 +137,9 @@ mm-charset-to-coding-system
 	 (let ((cs (cdr (assq charset mm-charset-override-alist))))
 	   (and cs (mm-coding-system-p cs) cs))))
    ;; ascii
-   ((or (eq charset 'us-ascii)
+   ((or (eq charset 'ascii)
 	(string-match "ansi.x3.4" (symbol-name charset)))
-    'ascii)
+    'us-ascii)
    ;; Check to see whether we can handle this charset.  (This depends
    ;; on there being some coding system matching each `mime-charset'
    ;; property defined, as there should be.)