diff --git a/static/js/activity.js b/static/js/activity.js
index e3ce75099a..a9cdc25a40 100644
--- a/static/js/activity.js
+++ b/static/js/activity.js
@@ -399,6 +399,9 @@ exports.initialize = function () {
     setInterval(focus_ping, ACTIVE_PING_INTERVAL_MS);
 
     focus_ping();
+
+    activity.set_user_statuses(page_params.initial_presences,
+                               page_params.initial_servertime);
 };
 
 // Set user statuses. `users` should be an object with user emails as keys
diff --git a/static/js/zulip.js b/static/js/zulip.js
index 6a8e1de82e..f396af7d22 100644
--- a/static/js/zulip.js
+++ b/static/js/zulip.js
@@ -16,12 +16,3 @@ function process_loaded_for_unread(messages) {
     unread.update_unread_counts();
     resize.resize_page_components();
 }
-
-function main() {
-    activity.set_user_statuses(page_params.initial_presences,
-                               page_params.initial_servertime);
-}
-
-$(function () {
-    main();
-});