diff --git a/zerver/management/commands/sync_ldap_user_data.py b/zerver/management/commands/sync_ldap_user_data.py
index c8251d93ae..8c3e2872f3 100644
--- a/zerver/management/commands/sync_ldap_user_data.py
+++ b/zerver/management/commands/sync_ldap_user_data.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from django.db.utils import IntegrityError
 from zerver.lib.logging_util import log_to_file
 from zerver.lib.management import ZulipBaseCommand
 from zerver.models import UserProfile
-from zproject.backends import ZulipLDAPUserPopulator, ZulipLDAPException
+from zproject.backends import ZulipLDAPException, sync_user_from_ldap
 
 ## Setup ##
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -20,12 +20,11 @@ log_to_file(logger, settings.LDAP_SYNC_LOG_PATH)
 # Run this on a cronjob to pick up on name changes.
 def sync_ldap_user_data(user_profiles: List[UserProfile]) -> None:
     logger.info("Starting update.")
-    backend = ZulipLDAPUserPopulator()
     for u in user_profiles:
         # This will save the user if relevant, and will do nothing if the user
         # does not exist.
         try:
-            if backend.populate_user(backend.django_to_ldap_username(u.email)) is not None:
+            if sync_user_from_ldap(u):
                 logger.info("Updated %s." % (u.email,))
             else:
                 logger.warning("Did not find %s in LDAP." % (u.email,))
diff --git a/zproject/backends.py b/zproject/backends.py
index f35bade39c..61a01dad30 100644
--- a/zproject/backends.py
+++ b/zproject/backends.py
@@ -414,6 +414,11 @@ class ZulipLDAPUserPopulator(ZulipLDAPAuthBackendBase):
                      return_data: Optional[Dict[str, Any]]=None) -> None:
         return None
 
+def sync_user_from_ldap(user_profile: UserProfile) -> bool:
+    backend = ZulipLDAPUserPopulator()
+    updated_user = backend.populate_user(backend.django_to_ldap_username(user_profile.email))
+    return updated_user is not None
+
 class DevAuthBackend(ZulipAuthMixin):
     # Allow logging in as any user without a password.
     # This is used for convenience when developing Zulip.