diff --git a/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb b/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
index 48f4d7a586d83f9b8ae596b20bf402d83f618276..e88c46144ef29121d2615418426c5439e1cd5757 100644
--- a/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
@@ -36,10 +36,10 @@ def index
 
   # rubocop: disable CodeReuse/ActiveRecord
   def new
-    namespace = Namespace.find_by(id: params[:namespace_id]) if params[:namespace_id]
-    return access_denied! if namespace && !can?(current_user, :create_projects, namespace)
+    @namespace = Namespace.find_by(id: params[:namespace_id]) if params[:namespace_id]
+    return access_denied! if @namespace && !can?(current_user, :create_projects, @namespace)
 
-    @project = Project.new(namespace_id: namespace&.id)
+    @project = Project.new(namespace_id: @namespace&.id)
   end
   # rubocop: enable CodeReuse/ActiveRecord