diff --git a/zephyr/static/js/zephyr.js b/zephyr/static/js/zephyr.js
index 868b70efc3..2ed51a54ad 100644
--- a/zephyr/static/js/zephyr.js
+++ b/zephyr/static/js/zephyr.js
@@ -818,14 +818,6 @@ $(function () {
         }
         // now start subscribing to updates
         get_updates();
-
-        // backfill more messages after the user is idle
-        var backfill_batch_size = 1000;
-        $(document).idle({'idle': 1000*10,
-                          'onIdle': function () {
-                              var first_id = message_array[0].id;
-                              load_old_messages(first_id, backfill_batch_size, 0);
-                          }});
     }
 
     if (have_initial_messages) {