diff --git a/frontend_tests/node_tests/activity.js b/frontend_tests/node_tests/activity.js
index bdf92ea802..75592f0969 100644
--- a/frontend_tests/node_tests/activity.js
+++ b/frontend_tests/node_tests/activity.js
@@ -678,7 +678,6 @@ run_test('insert_unfiltered_user_with_filter', () => {
 
 run_test('realm_presence_disabled', () => {
     page_params.realm_presence_disabled = true;
-    unread.set_suppress_unread_counts(false);
 
     activity.redraw_user();
     activity.build_user_sidebar();
diff --git a/static/js/buddy_data.js b/static/js/buddy_data.js
index 20a2da2c98..6411e7cef8 100644
--- a/static/js/buddy_data.js
+++ b/static/js/buddy_data.js
@@ -134,9 +134,6 @@ exports.matches_filter = function (filter_text, user_id) {
 };
 
 function get_num_unread(user_id) {
-    if (unread.suppress_unread_counts) {
-        return 0;
-    }
     return unread.num_unread_for_person(user_id.toString());
 }
 
diff --git a/static/js/panels.js b/static/js/panels.js
index 7d2a262970..422cfcdae1 100644
--- a/static/js/panels.js
+++ b/static/js/panels.js
@@ -94,10 +94,6 @@ exports.initialize = function () {
         resize_app();
     });
 
-    $("#bankruptcy").on("hide", function () {
-        unread_ui.enable();
-    });
-
     $("#panels").on("click", ".alert .close, .alert .exit", function (e) {
         e.stopPropagation();
         const $process = $(e.target).closest("[data-process]");
diff --git a/static/js/unread.js b/static/js/unread.js
index feda283a4b..be9d276fc7 100644
--- a/static/js/unread.js
+++ b/static/js/unread.js
@@ -13,10 +13,6 @@ const FoldDict = require('./fold_dict').FoldDict;
 // See https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/subsystems/pointer.html
 // for more details on how this system is designed.
 
-exports.suppress_unread_counts = true;
-exports.set_suppress_unread_counts = function (value) {
-    exports.suppress_unread_counts = value;
-};
 exports.messages_read_in_narrow = false;
 exports.set_messages_read_in_narrow = function (value) {
     exports.messages_read_in_narrow = value;
diff --git a/static/js/unread_ui.js b/static/js/unread_ui.js
index d26ed78fcc..ab575c497a 100644
--- a/static/js/unread_ui.js
+++ b/static/js/unread_ui.js
@@ -35,10 +35,6 @@ exports.set_count_toggle_button = function (elem, count) {
 };
 
 exports.update_unread_counts = function () {
-    if (unread.suppress_unread_counts) {
-        return;
-    }
-
     // Pure computation:
     const res = unread.get_counts();
 
@@ -59,11 +55,6 @@ exports.update_unread_counts = function () {
 
 };
 
-exports.enable = function enable() {
-    unread.set_suppress_unread_counts(false);
-    exports.update_unread_counts();
-};
-
 exports.should_display_bankruptcy_banner = function () {
     // Until we've handled possibly declaring bankruptcy, don't show
     // unread counts since they only consider messages that are loaded
@@ -72,7 +63,6 @@ exports.should_display_bankruptcy_banner = function () {
 
     if (!page_params.furthest_read_time) {
         // We've never read a message.
-        exports.enable();
         return false;
     }
 
@@ -82,12 +72,11 @@ exports.should_display_bankruptcy_banner = function () {
         return true;
     }
 
-    exports.enable();
     return false;
 };
 
 exports.initialize = function () {
-    exports.enable();
+    exports.update_unread_counts();
 };
 
 window.unread_ui = exports;