diff --git a/lib/diaspora/federated/retraction.rb b/lib/diaspora/federated/retraction.rb
index f925bbb9a..642c93898 100644
--- a/lib/diaspora/federated/retraction.rb
+++ b/lib/diaspora/federated/retraction.rb
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ class Retraction
 
   def public?
     # TODO: backward compatibility for pre 0.6 pods, they don't relay public retractions
-    data[:target][:public] == "true" && (!data[:target][:parent] || data[:target][:parent][:local] == "true")
+    data[:target][:public] == true && (!data[:target][:parent] || data[:target][:parent][:local] == true)
   end
 
   private