Yes, the original was brass- it wasn't long enough to reach into the female part of the niche. I bought a longer stainless steel screw. It was at time hard to screw in so threads may have been stripped a little. I need to get another brass screw. That is probably why much of my white light cover is getting orange rust stains all over the top where the screw goes. Even on the inside- I thought it was the salt, maybe it was the type of screw I used. When I saw the threads were gone, I mean all that's left is a real skinny part of a screw- weird. Does anyone know the standard size screw that goes in a niche? I remember it was metric.