diff --git a/app/models/stream_item.rb b/app/models/stream_item.rb
index 5281353f50b..ee1f6e51dd2 100644
--- a/app/models/stream_item.rb
+++ b/app/models/stream_item.rb
@@ -146,7 +146,9 @@ class StreamItem < ActiveRecord::Base
     when Message
       res = object.attributes
       res['notification_category'] = object.notification_display_category
-      if object.asset_context_type
+      if !object.context.is_a?(Context) && object.context.respond_to?(:context) && object.context.context.is_a?(Context)
+        self.context_code = object.context.context.asset_string
+      elsif object.asset_context_type
         self.context_code = "#{object.asset_context_type.underscore}_#{object.asset_context_id}"
       end
     when Submission
diff --git a/spec/models/stream_item_spec.rb b/spec/models/stream_item_spec.rb
index 0c65cf90dde..2f6c9e89fc7 100644
--- a/spec/models/stream_item_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/stream_item_spec.rb
@@ -29,4 +29,16 @@ describe StreamItem do
     data.type.should == 'DiscussionTopic'
     data.user_id.should be_nil
   end
+
+  it "should prefer a Context for Message stream item context" do
+    notification_model(:name => 'Assignment Created')
+    course_with_student(:active_all => true)
+    assignment_model(:course => @course)
+    item = @user.stream_items.first
+    item.data.notification_name.should == 'Assignment Created'
+    item.context_code.should == @course.asset_string
+
+    course_items = @user.recent_stream_items(:contexts => [@course])
+    course_items.should == [item]
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/selenium/dashboard_spec.rb b/spec/selenium/dashboard_spec.rb
index 65d2829054c..d5216437024 100644
--- a/spec/selenium/dashboard_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/selenium/dashboard_spec.rb
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ describe "dashboard" do
       # appointment group publish and update notifications
       find_all_with_jquery("div.communication_message.message_appointment_group_#{@appointment_group.id}").size.should == 2
       # signup notification
-      find_all_with_jquery("div.communication_message.message_calendar_event_#{@event.id}").size.should == 1
+      find_all_with_jquery("div.communication_message.message_group_#{@group.id}").size.should == 1
     end
 
     it "should display assignment in to do list" do