diff --git a/zerver/actions/create_user.py b/zerver/actions/create_user.py
index 27624c4cca..18c1d69464 100644
--- a/zerver/actions/create_user.py
+++ b/zerver/actions/create_user.py
@@ -67,24 +67,6 @@ MAX_NUM_ONBOARDING_UNREAD_MESSAGES = 20
 # several weeks old and still be a good place to start.
 ONBOARDING_RECENT_TIMEDELTA = timedelta(weeks=12)
 
-DEFAULT_HISTORICAL_FLAGS = UserMessage.flags.historical | UserMessage.flags.read
-
-
-def create_historical_user_messages(
-    *, user_id: int, message_ids: Iterable[int], flags: int = DEFAULT_HISTORICAL_FLAGS
-) -> None:
-    # Users can see and interact with messages sent to streams with
-    # public history for which they do not have a UserMessage because
-    # they were not a subscriber at the time the message was sent.
-    # In order to add emoji reactions or mutate message flags for
-    # those messages, we create UserMessage objects for those messages;
-    # these have the special historical flag which keeps track of the
-    # fact that the user did not receive the message at the time it was sent.
-    UserMessage.objects.bulk_create(
-        UserMessage(user_profile_id=user_id, message_id=message_id, flags=flags)
-        for message_id in message_ids
-    )
-
 
 def send_message_to_signup_notification_stream(
     sender: UserProfile, realm: Realm, message: str
diff --git a/zerver/actions/message_flags.py b/zerver/actions/message_flags.py
index 4b3f9abe45..81da8a4858 100644
--- a/zerver/actions/message_flags.py
+++ b/zerver/actions/message_flags.py
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ from django.utils.timezone import now as timezone_now
 from django.utils.translation import gettext as _
 
 from analytics.lib.counts import COUNT_STATS, do_increment_logging_stat
-from zerver.actions.create_user import DEFAULT_HISTORICAL_FLAGS, create_historical_user_messages
 from zerver.lib.exceptions import JsonableError
 from zerver.lib.message import (
     bulk_access_messages,
@@ -18,6 +17,7 @@ from zerver.lib.message import (
 from zerver.lib.queue import queue_json_publish
 from zerver.lib.stream_subscription import get_subscribed_stream_recipient_ids_for_user
 from zerver.lib.topic import filter_by_topic_name_via_message
+from zerver.lib.user_message import DEFAULT_HISTORICAL_FLAGS, create_historical_user_messages
 from zerver.models import Message, Recipient, UserMessage, UserProfile
 from zerver.tornado.django_api import send_event
 
diff --git a/zerver/actions/reactions.py b/zerver/actions/reactions.py
index 24b2ced9fd..2462b19ea1 100644
--- a/zerver/actions/reactions.py
+++ b/zerver/actions/reactions.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
 
-from zerver.actions.create_user import create_historical_user_messages
 from zerver.actions.user_topics import do_set_user_topic_visibility_policy
 from zerver.lib.emoji import check_emoji_request, get_emoji_data
 from zerver.lib.exceptions import ReactionExistsError
@@ -13,6 +12,7 @@ from zerver.lib.message import (
 from zerver.lib.message_cache import update_message_cache
 from zerver.lib.stream_subscription import subscriber_ids_with_stream_history_access
 from zerver.lib.streams import access_stream_by_id
+from zerver.lib.user_message import create_historical_user_messages
 from zerver.models import Message, Reaction, Recipient, Stream, UserMessage, UserProfile
 from zerver.tornado.django_api import send_event_on_commit
 
diff --git a/zerver/lib/user_message.py b/zerver/lib/user_message.py
index 3ab86d1ec9..4c856fd4e1 100644
--- a/zerver/lib/user_message.py
+++ b/zerver/lib/user_message.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from typing import List
+from typing import Iterable, List
 
 from django.db import connection
 from psycopg2.extras import execute_values
@@ -23,6 +23,25 @@ class UserMessageLite:
         return UserMessage.flags_list_for_flags(self.flags)
 
 
+DEFAULT_HISTORICAL_FLAGS = UserMessage.flags.historical | UserMessage.flags.read
+
+
+def create_historical_user_messages(
+    *, user_id: int, message_ids: Iterable[int], flags: int = DEFAULT_HISTORICAL_FLAGS
+) -> None:
+    # Users can see and interact with messages sent to streams with
+    # public history for which they do not have a UserMessage because
+    # they were not a subscriber at the time the message was sent.
+    # In order to add emoji reactions or mutate message flags for
+    # those messages, we create UserMessage objects for those messages;
+    # these have the special historical flag which keeps track of the
+    # fact that the user did not receive the message at the time it was sent.
+    UserMessage.objects.bulk_create(
+        UserMessage(user_profile_id=user_id, message_id=message_id, flags=flags)
+        for message_id in message_ids
+    )
+
+
 def bulk_insert_ums(ums: List[UserMessageLite]) -> None:
     """
     Doing bulk inserts this way is much faster than using Django,