diff --git a/app/models/project.rb b/app/models/project.rb
index f5ae92f9b..d83b4758f 100644
--- a/app/models/project.rb
+++ b/app/models/project.rb
@@ -688,7 +688,7 @@ class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   # Returns an auto-generated project identifier based on the last identifier used
   def self.next_identifier
-    p = Project.order('created_on DESC').first
+    p = Project.order('id DESC').first
     p.nil? ? nil : p.identifier.to_s.succ
   end