diff --git a/spec/factories/projects.rb b/spec/factories/projects.rb
index 091c9d5a2455f44070e213f62be305af1082828e..87e4a8e355d306c4438c0cfbd1da3b53efaacbac 100644
--- a/spec/factories/projects.rb
+++ b/spec/factories/projects.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
     # Associations
     namespace
-    creator { group ? create(:user) : namespace&.owner }
+    creator { group ? association(:user) : namespace&.owner }
 
     transient do
       # Nest Project Feature attributes