[jQuery] jQuery AJAX IE Error

[jQuery] jQuery AJAX IE Error


The offending jQuery code:
            $.ajax({
                type: "POST",
                url: "/?ct=rating&rt_v=rr&rt_rk=" + markerObject.number,
                dataType: "html",
                success: function(dataSet) {
                    var status = $("status", dataSet).text();
                    if (status == "ERROR") {
The error IE gives:
Line: 173
Character: 6
Code: 0
Error Message: 'undefined' is null or not an object
Line 173 is:
if (status == "ERROR") {
This code works just fine in FF and Safari.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
- Brad