diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 2f09d917..5151471c 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Version 2.4.1-alpha.2+timestamp.2013.01.05.18.45.27
+Version 2.4.1-alpha.2+timestamp.2013.01.06.09.27.15
diff --git a/gluon/dal.py b/gluon/dal.py
index 1034aeb4..8957c893 100644
--- a/gluon/dal.py
+++ b/gluon/dal.py
@@ -8415,7 +8415,7 @@ class Expression(object):
 
     def st_astext(self):
         db = self.db
-        return Expression(db, db._adapter.ST_ASTEXT, self, 'string')
+        return Expression(db, db._adapter.ST_ASTEXT, self, type='string')
 
     def st_distance(self, other):
         db = self.db