diff --git a/app/services/user_destroyer.rb b/app/services/user_destroyer.rb
index 55f88a00458..0049c677598 100644
--- a/app/services/user_destroyer.rb
+++ b/app/services/user_destroyer.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ class UserDestroyer
   def destroy(user, opts={})
     raise Discourse::InvalidParameters.new('user is nil') unless user and user.is_a?(User)
     @guardian.ensure_can_delete_user!(user)
-    raise PostsExistError if !opts[:delete_posts] && user.post_count != 0
+    raise PostsExistError if !opts[:delete_posts] && user.posts.count != 0
     User.transaction do
       if opts[:delete_posts]
         user.posts.each do |post|
diff --git a/spec/controllers/admin/users_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/admin/users_controller_spec.rb
index 9deedfb62a6..c7a97f86e7a 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/admin/users_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/admin/users_controller_spec.rb
@@ -311,8 +311,9 @@ describe Admin::UsersController do
       context "user has post" do
 
         before do
-          @user = build(:user)
-          @user.stubs(:post_count).returns(1)
+          @user = Fabricate(:user)
+          topic = create_topic(user: @user)
+          post = create_post(topic: topic, user: @user)
           @user.stubs(:first_post_created_at).returns(Time.zone.now)
           User.expects(:find_by).with(id: @delete_me.id).returns(@user)
         end
diff --git a/spec/services/user_destroyer_spec.rb b/spec/services/user_destroyer_spec.rb
index bf26b55f760..630dc88773d 100644
--- a/spec/services/user_destroyer_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/user_destroyer_spec.rb
@@ -145,6 +145,16 @@ describe UserDestroyer do
       end
     end
 
+    context 'user has no posts, but user_stats table has post_count > 0' do
+      before do
+        # out of sync user_stat data shouldn't break UserDestroyer
+        @user.user_stat.update_attribute(:post_count, 1)
+      end
+      subject(:destroy) { UserDestroyer.new(@user).destroy(@user, {delete_posts: false}) }
+
+      include_examples "successfully destroy a user"
+    end
+
     context 'user has deleted posts' do
       let!(:deleted_post) { Fabricate(:post, user: @user, deleted_at: 1.hour.ago) }
       it "should mark the user's deleted posts as belonging to a nuked user" do