diff --git a/lib/WeBWorK/DB.pm b/lib/WeBWorK/DB.pm
index 5ccf5e0eba..b602c00f06 100644
--- a/lib/WeBWorK/DB.pm
+++ b/lib/WeBWorK/DB.pm
@@ -472,6 +472,7 @@ sub getUsers {
 
 sub addUser {
 	my ($self, $User) = shift->checkArgs(\@_, qw/REC:user/);
+	$User->accommodation_time_factor(1) unless defined $User->accommodation_time_factor;
 	return $self->{user}->add($User);
 }