diff --git a/src/um/UserPool.cc b/src/um/UserPool.cc
index 8b48c108b5..b8e5ca33e2 100644
--- a/src/um/UserPool.cc
+++ b/src/um/UserPool.cc
@@ -596,13 +596,18 @@ static int parse_auth_msg(
         int  tmp_gid;
         bool gr_admin = false;
 
-        char c = is.peek();
+        char c;
+
+        is >> c;
 
         if ( c == '*' )
         {
-            is.get(c);
             gr_admin = true;
         }
+        else
+        {
+            is.unget();
+        }
 
         is >> tmp_gid;