diff --git a/static/js/user_profile.js b/static/js/user_profile.js
index 50497b1197..9857a64fb1 100644
--- a/static/js/user_profile.js
+++ b/static/js/user_profile.js
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ export function show_user_profile(user) {
     const user_streams = stream_data.get_subscribed_streams_for_user(user.user_id);
     const groups_of_user = user_groups.get_user_groups_of_user(user.user_id);
     const args = {
+        user_id: user.user_id,
         full_name: user.full_name,
         email: people.get_visible_email(user),
         profile_data,
diff --git a/static/templates/user_profile_modal.hbs b/static/templates/user_profile_modal.hbs
index 31cfd96151..c4b767112c 100644
--- a/static/templates/user_profile_modal.hbs
+++ b/static/templates/user_profile_modal.hbs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <div id="user-profile-modal" class="modal new-style modal-bg fade{{#unless profile_data.length}} no-fields{{/unless}}"
-  tabindex="-1" role="dialog" aria-labelledby="user_profile_modal label" aria-hidden="true">
+  tabindex="-1" role="dialog" aria-labelledby="user_profile_modal label" aria-hidden="true" data-user-id="{{user_id}}">
     <div class="modal-body" id="body" data-simplebar data-simplebar-auto-hide="false">
         <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="modal" aria-label="{{t 'Close' }}">
             <span aria-hidden="true" id="exit-sign">&times;</span>