diff --git a/app/controllers/ecds_rails_auth_engine/current_user.rb b/app/controllers/ecds_rails_auth_engine/current_user.rb
index 4504361..ece6f0f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/ecds_rails_auth_engine/current_user.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/ecds_rails_auth_engine/current_user.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def current_user
           cookies.signed[:auth]
         end
 
-        return nil if token.nil?
+        return User.new if token.nil?
         # begin
         #   token = a.split(' ').last