diff --git a/app/controllers/items_controller.rb b/app/controllers/items_controller.rb
index c419c5f4..84039c21 100644
--- a/app/controllers/items_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/items_controller.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ class ItemsController < ApplicationController
       begin
         @results = Item.search(@query).alphabetize.paginate :page => params[:page]
       rescue
-        flash[:alert] = $!.message
+        flash.now[:alert] = $!.message
       end
     end
   end