diff --git a/classes/Foreign_user.php b/classes/Foreign_user.php
index 8b3e03dfb3..0dd94ffb99 100644
--- a/classes/Foreign_user.php
+++ b/classes/Foreign_user.php
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ class Foreign_user extends Memcached_DataObject
 
     function updateKeys(&$orig)
     {
+        $this->_connect();
         $parts = array();
         foreach (array('id', 'service', 'uri', 'nickname') as $k) {
             if (strcmp($this->$k, $orig->$k) != 0) {
diff --git a/classes/User.php b/classes/User.php
index 77091fad5d..ee1006ee18 100644
--- a/classes/User.php
+++ b/classes/User.php
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ class User extends Memcached_DataObject
 
     function updateKeys(&$orig)
     {
+        $this->_connect();
         $parts = array();
         foreach (array('nickname', 'email', 'jabber', 'incomingemail', 'sms', 'carrier', 'smsemail', 'language', 'timezone') as $k) {
             if (strcmp($this->$k, $orig->$k) != 0) {