diff --git a/lisp/dired.el b/lisp/dired.el
index edd332ed6ea..8bdfe1befce 100644
--- a/lisp/dired.el
+++ b/lisp/dired.el
@@ -1404,7 +1404,7 @@ Keybindings:
        (or switches dired-listing-switches))
   (set (make-local-variable 'font-lock-defaults)
        '(dired-font-lock-keywords t nil nil beginning-of-line))
-  (set (make-local-variable 'desktop-buffer-misc-data-function)
+  (set (make-local-variable 'desktop-save-buffer)
        'dired-desktop-buffer-misc-data)
   (dired-sort-other dired-actual-switches t)
   (run-mode-hooks 'dired-mode-hook)