diff --git a/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/file.py b/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/file.py
index dfd3cf5638..6b77a78b5e 100644
--- a/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/file.py
+++ b/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/file.py
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ class file(object):
         """
         eid = kwargs.pop("id", -1)
 
-        e = entity_instance((self.schema, type), self)
+        e = entity_instance((self.schema_identifier, type), self)
 
         # Create pairs of {attribute index, attribute value}.
         # Keyword arguments are mapped to their corresponding