diff --git a/zephyr/lib/actions.py b/zephyr/lib/actions.py
index c7c4f75f7e..8570553337 100644
--- a/zephyr/lib/actions.py
+++ b/zephyr/lib/actions.py
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ from zephyr.models import Realm, Stream, UserProfile, UserActivity, \
 from django.db import transaction, IntegrityError
 from django.db.models import F
 from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
+from django.utils.importlib import import_module
+session_engine = import_module(settings.SESSION_ENGINE)
 
 from zephyr.lib.initial_password import initial_password
 from zephyr.lib.timestamp import timestamp_to_datetime, datetime_to_timestamp
@@ -70,10 +72,28 @@ def do_create_user(email, password, realm, full_name, short_name,
     tornado_callbacks.send_notification(notice)
     return user_profile
 
-
 def user_sessions(user):
     return [s for s in Session.objects.all() if s.get_decoded().get('_auth_user_id') == user.id]
 
+def delete_session(session):
+    return session_engine.SessionStore(session.session_key).delete()
+
+def delete_user_sessions(user_profile):
+    for session in Session.objects.all():
+        if session.get_decoded().get('_auth_user_id') == user_profile.user.id:
+            delete_session(session)
+
+def delete_realm_sessions(realm):
+    realm_user_ids = [u.user.id for u in
+                      UserProfile.objects.filter(realm=realm)]
+    for session in Session.objects.all():
+        if session.get_decoded().get('_auth_user_id') in realm_user_ids:
+            delete_session(session)
+
+def delete_all_user_sessions():
+    for session in Session.objects.all():
+        delete_session(session)
+
 def do_deactivate(user_profile):
     user_profile.is_active = False;
     user_profile.set_unusable_password()
@@ -83,8 +103,7 @@ def do_deactivate(user_profile):
     user_profile.user.is_active = False
     user_profile.user.save(update_fields=["is_active", "password"])
 
-    for session in user_sessions(user_profile.user):
-        session.delete()
+    delete_user_sessions(user_profile)
 
     log_event({'type': 'user_deactivated',
                'timestamp': time.time(),
diff --git a/zephyr/management/commands/set_message_flags.py b/zephyr/management/commands/set_message_flags.py
index 6d4a752f76..a38e222c07 100644
--- a/zephyr/management/commands/set_message_flags.py
+++ b/zephyr/management/commands/set_message_flags.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import sys
 
 from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
 
-from zephyr.lib.actions import do_deactivate, user_sessions
+from zephyr.lib.actions import do_deactivate
 from zephyr.lib import utils
 from zephyr.models import UserMessage, get_user_profile_by_email
 from django.db import transaction, models
diff --git a/zephyr/management/commands/set_unread_to_pointer.py b/zephyr/management/commands/set_unread_to_pointer.py
index d4a8eb7604..9fbaf809cb 100644
--- a/zephyr/management/commands/set_unread_to_pointer.py
+++ b/zephyr/management/commands/set_unread_to_pointer.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import logging
 
 from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
 
-from zephyr.lib.actions import do_deactivate, user_sessions
+from zephyr.lib.actions import do_deactivate
 from zephyr.lib import utils
 from zephyr.models import UserMessage, UserProfile, \
     get_user_profile_by_email