diff --git a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
index c6999ed00bb..bede58eba15 100644
--- a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
@@ -321,6 +321,7 @@ class UsersController < ApplicationController
     if user = User.where(staged: true).with_email(params[:email].strip.downcase).first
       user_params.each { |k, v| user.send("#{k}=", v) }
       user.staged = false
+      user.active = false
     else
       user = User.new(user_params)
     end
diff --git a/spec/controllers/users_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/users_controller_spec.rb
index c63de160362..ca244ffca6e 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/users_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/users_controller_spec.rb
@@ -1035,7 +1035,7 @@ describe UsersController do
     end
 
     context "when taking over a staged account" do
-      let!(:staged) { Fabricate(:staged, email: "staged@account.com") }
+      let!(:staged) { Fabricate(:staged, email: "staged@account.com", active: true) }
 
       it "succeeds" do
         post :create, params: {
@@ -1045,9 +1045,10 @@ describe UsersController do
         result = ::JSON.parse(response.body)
         expect(result["success"]).to eq(true)
 
-        active_user = User.find_by_email(staged.email)
-        expect(active_user.staged).to eq(false)
-        expect(active_user.registration_ip_address).to be_present
+        created_user = User.find_by_email(staged.email)
+        expect(created_user.staged).to eq(false)
+        expect(created_user.active).to eq(false)
+        expect(created_user.registration_ip_address).to be_present
       end
     end