diff --git a/config/initializers/setup_simple_captcha.rb b/config/initializers/setup_simple_captcha.rb
index cdcb6c2a0..a79b48d45 100644
--- a/config/initializers/setup_simple_captcha.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/setup_simple_captcha.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 SimpleCaptcha.setup do |sc|
   sc.image_size = AppConfig.settings.captcha.image_size
-  sc.length = [1, [AppConfig.settings.captcha_length.to_i, 12].min].max
+  sc.length = [1, [AppConfig.settings.captcha.captcha_length.to_i, 12].min].max
   sc.image_style = AppConfig.settings.captcha.image_style
   sc.distortion = AppConfig.settings.captcha.distortion
 end
diff --git a/spec/configuration_methods_spec.rb b/spec/configuration_methods_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a0d4e5d8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/configuration_methods_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+require "spec_helper"
+
+describe "ensure configuration effects" do
+  it "sets the captcha length as required" do
+    expect(SimpleCaptcha.length).to eq(AppConfig.settings.captcha.captcha_length.to_i)
+  end
+end