diff --git a/lib/nova b/lib/nova
index c40c43af6c..db88474f55 100644
--- a/lib/nova
+++ b/lib/nova
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ function create_nova_conf {
     iniset $NOVA_CONF DEFAULT osapi_compute_listen "$NOVA_SERVICE_LISTEN_ADDRESS"
     iniset $NOVA_CONF DEFAULT metadata_listen "$NOVA_SERVICE_LISTEN_ADDRESS"
 
-    iniset $NOVA_CONF key_manager api_class nova.keymgr.conf_key_mgr.ConfKeyManager
+    iniset $NOVA_CONF key_manager backend nova.keymgr.conf_key_mgr.ConfKeyManager
 
     if is_fedora || is_suse; then
         # nova defaults to /usr/local/bin, but fedora and suse pip like to