diff --git a/src/controllers/accounts.js b/src/controllers/accounts.js
index 600c6a2347..eb78226145 100644
--- a/src/controllers/accounts.js
+++ b/src/controllers/accounts.js
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@ var fs = require('fs'),
 	languages = require('../languages'),
 	image = require('../image'),
 	file = require('../file'),
-	helpers = require('./helpers'),
-	websockets = require('../socket.io');
+	helpers = require('./helpers');
 
 function getUserDataByUserSlug(userslug, callerUID, callback) {
 	user.getUidByUserslug(userslug, function(err, uid) {
@@ -91,7 +90,7 @@ function getUserDataByUserSlug(userslug, callerUID, callback) {
 			userData.disableSignatures = meta.config.disableSignatures !== undefined && parseInt(meta.config.disableSignatures, 10) === 1;
 			userData['email:confirmed'] = !!parseInt(userData['email:confirmed'], 10);
 			userData.profile_links = results.profile_links;
-			userData.status = websockets.isUserOnline(userData.uid) ? (userData.status || 'online') : 'offline';
+			userData.status = require('../socket.io').isUserOnline(userData.uid) ? (userData.status || 'online') : 'offline';
 			userData.banned = parseInt(userData.banned, 10) === 1;
 			userData.websiteName = userData.website.replace(validator.escape('http://'), '').replace(validator.escape('https://'), '');
 			userData.followingCount = parseInt(userData.followingCount, 10) || 0;
diff --git a/src/messaging.js b/src/messaging.js
index 86ecf7014d..4a367fbd38 100644
--- a/src/messaging.js
+++ b/src/messaging.js
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ var db = require('./database'),
 	utils = require('../public/src/utils'),
 	notifications = require('./notifications'),
 	userNotifications = require('./user/notifications'),
-	websockets = require('./socket.io'),
 	emailer = require('./emailer');
 
 (function(Messaging) {
@@ -257,7 +256,7 @@ var db = require('./database'),
 				results.users.forEach(function(user, index) {
 					if (user) {
 						user.unread = results.unread[index];
-						user.status = websockets.isUserOnline(user.uid) ? user.status : 'offline';
+						user.status = require('./socket.io').isUserOnline(user.uid) ? user.status : 'offline';
 					}
 				});
 
@@ -320,7 +319,7 @@ var db = require('./database'),
 	};
 
 	function sendNotifications(fromuid, touid, messageObj, callback) {
-		if (websockets.isUserOnline(touid)) {
+		if (require('./socket.io').isUserOnline(touid)) {
 			return callback();
 		}
 
diff --git a/src/posts/user.js b/src/posts/user.js
index 555b60e46d..02b7816ed9 100644
--- a/src/posts/user.js
+++ b/src/posts/user.js
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ var async = require('async'),
 	user = require('../user'),
 	groups = require('../groups'),
 	meta = require('../meta'),
-	websockets = require('../socket.io'),
 	postTools = require('../postTools'),
 	plugins = require('../plugins');
 
@@ -22,7 +21,7 @@ module.exports = function(Posts) {
 				user.getMultipleUserFields(uids, ['uid', 'username', 'userslug', 'reputation', 'postcount', 'picture', 'signature', 'banned', 'status'], next);
 			},
 			online: function(next) {
-				websockets.isUsersOnline(uids, next);
+				require('../socket.io').isUsersOnline(uids, next);
 			}
 		}, function(err, results) {
 			if (err) {