Index: wp-includes/class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php	(revision 17281)
+++ wp-includes/class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php	(working copy)
@@ -2011,6 +2011,8 @@
 
 		extract($actual_post, EXTR_SKIP);
 
+		$post_status = $publish ? 'publish' : 'draft';
+
 		if ( ('publish' == $post_status) && !current_user_can('publish_posts') )
 			return new IXR_Error(401, __('Sorry, you do not have the right to publish this post.'));