diff --git a/app/controllers/api/v1/base_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/v1/base_controller.rb
index e2e90ee..e2dec11 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/v1/base_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/v1/base_controller.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ class Api::V1::BaseController < ActionController::Base
   private
     def authenticate_user
       if params[:username]
-        user = User.find_for_database_authentication( :email => params[:username] )
+        user = User.find_for_database_authentication( :username => params[:username] )
         @current_user = user if user && user.valid_password?( params[:password] )
 
         if @current_user.nil?
diff --git a/spec/support/api_test_helpers.rb b/spec/support/api_test_helpers.rb
index c164fb1..4300a9c 100644
--- a/spec/support/api_test_helpers.rb
+++ b/spec/support/api_test_helpers.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 module ApiTestHelpers
   def api_submit_json(user, json_hash)
-    json_hash.merge({username: user.email, password: user.password})
+    json_hash.merge({username: user.username, password: user.password})
   end
 end