diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 9040bc33d..c24b83655 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ Bugs fixed
 * #185: References to section title including raw node has broken
 * #3255: In Py3.4 environment, autodoc doesn't support documentation for
   attributes of Enum class correctly.
+* #3261: ``latex_use_parts`` makes sphinx crash
 
 Release 1.5.1 (released Dec 13, 2016)
 =====================================
diff --git a/sphinx/builders/latex.py b/sphinx/builders/latex.py
index 7bd43a84c..4e86ef19f 100644
--- a/sphinx/builders/latex.py
+++ b/sphinx/builders/latex.py
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ def validate_config_values(app):
             app.warn('latex_use_parts conflicts with latex_toplevel_sectioning, ignored.')
         else:
             app.warn('latex_use_parts is deprecated. Use latex_toplevel_sectioning instead.')
-            app.config.latex_toplevel_sectioning = 'parts'
+            app.config.latex_toplevel_sectioning = 'part'
 
     if app.config.latex_use_modindex is not True:  # changed by user
         app.warn('latex_use_modindex is deprecated. Use latex_domain_indices instead.')