diff --git a/sqlitedict.py b/sqlitedict.py
index 20806af..4422016 100755
--- a/sqlitedict.py
+++ b/sqlitedict.py
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ def __init__(self, filename, autocommit, journal_mode, timeout, outer_stack=True
         self.journal_mode = journal_mode
         # use request queue of unlimited size
         self.reqs = Queue()
-        self.setDaemon(True)  # python2.5-compatible
+        self.daemon = True
         self.exception = None
         self._sqlitedict_thread_initialized = None
         self._outer_stack = outer_stack