diff --git a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Auth/Database.php b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Auth/Database.php
index 8d930d16eba001d390d53004f4ba773ddee21a47..f350266aa995b411b6be4d30d6c9826b623dc6a6 100644
--- a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Auth/Database.php
+++ b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Auth/Database.php
@@ -141,23 +141,18 @@ class Database extends AbstractBase
         }
 
         // If we got this far, we're ready to create the account:
-        $data = [
-            'username'  => $params['username'],
-            'firstname' => $params['firstname'],
-            'lastname'  => $params['lastname'],
-            'email'     => $params['email'],
-            'created'   => date('Y-m-d H:i:s')
-        ];
-
+        $user = $table->createRowForUsername($params['username']);
+        $user->firstname = $params['firstname'];
+        $user->lastname = $params['lastname'];
+        $user->email = $params['email'];
         if ($this->passwordHashingEnabled()) {
             $bcrypt = new Bcrypt();
-            $data['pass_hash'] = $bcrypt->create($params['password']);
+            $user->pass_hash = $bcrypt->create($params['password']);
         } else {
-            $data['password'] = $params['password'];
+            $user->password = $params['password'];
         }
-        // Create the row and send it back to the caller:
-        $table->insert($data);
-        return $table->getByUsername($params['username'], false);
+        $user->save();
+        return $user;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Db/Table/User.php b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Db/Table/User.php
index 08c893d533c27a48d40b4c77dbac9abad82cdb98..9444c836e079978eefc240fd867b2d4df6cde7f6 100644
--- a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Db/Table/User.php
+++ b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Db/Table/User.php
@@ -57,8 +57,23 @@ class User extends Gateway
     }
 
     /**
-     * Retrieve a user object from the database based on username; create a new
-     * row if no existing match is found.
+     * Create a row for the specified username.
+     *
+     * @param string $username Username to use for retrieval.
+     *
+     * @return UserRow
+     */
+    public function createRowForUsername($username)
+    {
+        $row = $this->createRow();
+        $row->username = $username;
+        $row->created = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
+        return $row;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Retrieve a user object from the database based on username; when requested,
+     * create a new row if no existing match is found.
      *
      * @param string $username Username to use for retrieval.
      * @param bool   $create   Should we create users that don't already exist?
@@ -68,12 +83,8 @@ class User extends Gateway
     public function getByUsername($username, $create = true)
     {
         $row = $this->select(['username' => $username])->current();
-        if ($create && empty($row)) {
-            $row = $this->createRow();
-            $row->username = $username;
-            $row->created = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
-        }
-        return $row;
+        return ($create && empty($row))
+            ? $this->createRowForUsername($username) : $row;
     }
 
     /**