diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cxxstdlib.rb b/Library/Homebrew/cxxstdlib.rb
index a7c84ac2d..27c03b625 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/cxxstdlib.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cxxstdlib.rb
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ class CxxStdlib
       raise ArgumentError, "Invalid C++ stdlib type: #{type}"
     end
 
-    @type     = type.to_sym if type
+    @type = type
     @compiler = compiler.to_sym
   end