diff --git a/keystoneclient/tests/v3/utils.py b/keystoneclient/tests/v3/utils.py
index 84e32ebd9..4bad4294b 100644
--- a/keystoneclient/tests/v3/utils.py
+++ b/keystoneclient/tests/v3/utils.py
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ class CrudTests(object):
         # signature for the request when the manager does some
         # conversion before doing the request (e.g converting
         # from datetime object to timestamp string)
-        req_ref = req_ref or ref.copy()
+        req_ref = (req_ref or ref).copy()
         req_ref.pop('id')
 
         self.stub_entity(httpretty.POST, entity=req_ref, status=201)