diff --git a/zerver/lib/onboarding.py b/zerver/lib/onboarding.py
index d380d8d7bd..bb0869bdb8 100644
--- a/zerver/lib/onboarding.py
+++ b/zerver/lib/onboarding.py
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ from zerver.models import Realm, UserProfile, Message, Reaction, get_system_bot
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Mapping, Text
 
 def setup_realm_internal_bots(realm: Realm) -> None:
+    """Create this realm's internal bots.
+
+    This function is idempotent; it does nothing for a bot that
+    already exists.
+    """
     internal_bots = [(bot['name'], bot['email_template'] % (settings.INTERNAL_BOT_DOMAIN,))
                      for bot in settings.REALM_INTERNAL_BOTS]
     create_users(realm, internal_bots, bot_type=UserProfile.DEFAULT_BOT)
diff --git a/zerver/management/commands/create_realm_internal_bots.py b/zerver/management/commands/create_realm_internal_bots.py
index b0e1dc55ae..a83f7f41b8 100644
--- a/zerver/management/commands/create_realm_internal_bots.py
+++ b/zerver/management/commands/create_realm_internal_bots.py
@@ -3,38 +3,32 @@ from typing import Any, Iterable, Text, Tuple
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
+from django.db.models import Count
 
-from zerver.lib.actions import create_users
+from zerver.lib.onboarding import setup_realm_internal_bots
 from zerver.models import Realm, UserProfile
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
-    help = "Create Realm internal bots. These bots provide various services like doing reminders."
+    help = """\
+Create realm internal bots if absent, in all realms.
+
+These are normally created when the realm is, so this should be a no-op
+except when upgrading to a version that adds a new realm internal bot.
+"""
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def missing_any_bots() -> bool:
+        bot_emails = [bot['email_template'] % (settings.INTERNAL_BOT_DOMAIN,)
+                      for bot in settings.REALM_INTERNAL_BOTS]
+        bot_counts = dict(UserProfile.objects.filter(email__in=bot_emails)
+                                             .values_list('email')
+                                             .annotate(Count('id')))
+        realm_count = Realm.objects.count()
+        return any(bot_counts.get(email, 0) < realm_count for email in bot_emails)
 
     def handle(self, *args: Any, **options: Any) -> None:
-        internal_bots = set([(bot['name'], bot['email_template'] % (settings.INTERNAL_BOT_DOMAIN,))
-                            for bot in settings.REALM_INTERNAL_BOTS])
-
-        existing_bots = list(UserProfile.objects.select_related(
-            'realm').filter(email__in=[bot[1] for bot in internal_bots]))
-
-        all_realms = list(Realm.objects.all())
-
-        for realm in all_realms:
-            this_realm_bots = set()
-            for bot in existing_bots:
-                if bot.realm.string_id == realm.string_id:
-                    this_realm_bots.update([bot])
-            bots_to_create = list(internal_bots - this_realm_bots)
-            if bots_to_create:
-                create_users(realm, bots_to_create, bot_type=UserProfile.DEFAULT_BOT)
-
-        # Set the owners for these bots to the bots themselves
-        bots = UserProfile.objects.filter(
-            email__in=[bot_info[1] for bot_info in internal_bots],
-            bot_owner__isnull=True
-        )
-        for bot in bots:
-            bot.bot_owner = bot
-            bot.save()
-
-        self.stdout.write("Successfully created realm default bots.\n")
+        if self.missing_any_bots():
+            for realm in Realm.objects.all():
+                setup_realm_internal_bots(realm)
+                # create_users is idempotent -- it's a no-op when a given email
+                # already has a user in a given realm.