diff --git a/zephyr/lib/actions.py b/zephyr/lib/actions.py
index 71066c55f1..82a5a23254 100644
--- a/zephyr/lib/actions.py
+++ b/zephyr/lib/actions.py
@@ -116,17 +116,18 @@ def delete_all_user_sessions():
     for session in Session.objects.all():
         delete_session(session)
 
-def do_deactivate(user_profile):
+def do_deactivate(user_profile, log=True):
     user_profile.is_active = False;
     user_profile.set_unusable_password()
     user_profile.save(update_fields=["is_active", "password"])
 
     delete_user_sessions(user_profile)
 
-    log_event({'type': 'user_deactivated',
-               'timestamp': time.time(),
-               'user': user_profile.email,
-               'domain': user_profile.realm.domain})
+    if log:
+        log_event({'type': 'user_deactivated',
+                   'timestamp': time.time(),
+                   'user': user_profile.email,
+                   'domain': user_profile.realm.domain})
 
     notice = dict(event=dict(type="realm_user", op="remove",
                              person=dict(email=user_profile.email,
diff --git a/zephyr/management/commands/populate_db.py b/zephyr/management/commands/populate_db.py
index 25042a8ab6..21e37b3822 100644
--- a/zephyr/management/commands/populate_db.py
+++ b/zephyr/management/commands/populate_db.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from zephyr.models import Message, UserProfile, Stream, Recipient, Client, \
     Subscription, Huddle, get_huddle, Realm, UserMessage, \
     get_huddle_hash, clear_database, get_client, get_user_profile_by_id
 from zephyr.lib.actions import do_send_message, set_default_streams, \
-    do_activate_user, do_change_password
+    do_activate_user, do_deactivate, do_change_password
 from zephyr.lib.parallel import run_parallel
 from django.db import transaction, connection
 from django.conf import settings
@@ -538,6 +538,10 @@ def restore_saved_messages():
             users_by_id[user_profile.id] = user_profile
             users[old_message["user"]] = user_profile
             continue
+        elif message_type == "user_deactivated":
+            user_profile = users[old_message["user"]]
+            do_deactivate(user_profile, log=False)
+            continue
         elif message_type == "user_change_password":
             # Just handle these the slow way
             user_profile = users[old_message["user"]]