diff --git a/ipykernel/kernelbase.py b/ipykernel/kernelbase.py
index 3e99a36a5..bbd7a2a20 100644
--- a/ipykernel/kernelbase.py
+++ b/ipykernel/kernelbase.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ def shell_streams(self):
             'Property shell_streams is deprecated in favor of shell_stream',
             DeprecationWarning
         )
-        return [shell_stream]
+        return [self.shell_stream]
 
     control_stream = Instance(ZMQStream, allow_none=True)