diff --git a/lib/Zend/Wildfire/Plugin/FirePhp.php b/lib/Zend/Wildfire/Plugin/FirePhp.php
index 9747d9d85ca..235d1130ede 100644
--- a/lib/Zend/Wildfire/Plugin/FirePhp.php
+++ b/lib/Zend/Wildfire/Plugin/FirePhp.php
@@ -737,7 +737,7 @@ protected function _encodeObject($object, $objectDepth = 1, $arrayDepth = 1)
 
                 $name = $raw_name = $just_name;
 
-                if ($name{0} == "\0") {
+                if ($name[0] == "\0") {
                     $parts = explode("\0", $name);
                     $name = $parts[2];
                 }