diff --git a/app/controllers/dmails_controller.rb b/app/controllers/dmails_controller.rb
index 960503dbf..869238bec 100644
--- a/app/controllers/dmails_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/dmails_controller.rb
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class DmailsController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   def create
-    @dmail = Dmail.create_split(dmail_params(:create))
+    @dmail = Dmail.create_split(from: CurrentUser.user, creator_ip_addr: CurrentUser.ip_addr, **dmail_params(:create))
     respond_with(@dmail)
   end
 
diff --git a/app/models/dmail.rb b/app/models/dmail.rb
index 882ad7f83..491c06d72 100644
--- a/app/models/dmail.rb
+++ b/app/models/dmail.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ class Dmail < ApplicationRecord
   belongs_to :from, :class_name => "User"
   has_many :moderation_reports, as: :model
 
-  after_initialize :initialize_attributes, if: :new_record?
   before_create :autoreport_spam
   after_save :update_unread_dmail_count
   after_commit :send_email, on: :create
@@ -28,11 +27,6 @@ class Dmail < ApplicationRecord
     def to_name=(name)
       self.to = User.find_by_name(name)
     end
-
-    def initialize_attributes
-      self.from_id ||= CurrentUser.id
-      self.creator_ip_addr ||= CurrentUser.ip_addr
-    end
   end
 
   module FactoryMethods
@@ -59,12 +53,10 @@ class Dmail < ApplicationRecord
       end
 
       def create_automated(params)
-        CurrentUser.as_system do
-          dmail = Dmail.new(from: User.system, **params)
-          dmail.owner = dmail.to
-          dmail.save
-          dmail
-        end
+        dmail = Dmail.new(from: User.system, creator_ip_addr: "127.0.0.1", **params)
+        dmail.owner = dmail.to
+        dmail.save
+        dmail
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/test/functional/dmails_controller_test.rb b/test/functional/dmails_controller_test.rb
index 607b8aa46..f62d01c1c 100644
--- a/test/functional/dmails_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/functional/dmails_controller_test.rb
@@ -166,12 +166,10 @@ class DmailsControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
         @sender = create(:user)
         @recipient = create(:user)
 
-        as(@sender) do
-          @dmail1 = Dmail.create_split(title: "test1", body: "test", to: @recipient)
-          @dmail2 = Dmail.create_split(title: "test2", body: "test", to: @recipient)
-          @dmail3 = Dmail.create_split(title: "test3", body: "test", to: @recipient, is_read: true)
-          @dmail4 = Dmail.create_split(title: "test4", body: "test", to: @recipient, is_deleted: true)
-        end
+        @dmail1 = create(:dmail, from: @sender, owner: @recipient, to: @recipient)
+        @dmail2 = create(:dmail, from: @sender, owner: @recipient, to: @recipient)
+        @dmail3 = create(:dmail, from: @sender, owner: @recipient, to: @recipient, is_read: true)
+        @dmail4 = create(:dmail, from: @sender, owner: @recipient, to: @recipient, is_deleted: true)
       end
 
       should "mark all unread, undeleted dmails as read" do
@@ -182,7 +180,7 @@ class DmailsControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
 
         assert_response :success
         assert_equal(0, @recipient.reload.unread_dmail_count)
-        assert_equal(true, [@dmail1, @dmail2, @dmail3, @dmail4].all?(&:is_read))
+        assert_equal(true, [@dmail1, @dmail2, @dmail3, @dmail4].map(&:reload).all?(&:is_read))
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/test/unit/dmail_test.rb b/test/unit/dmail_test.rb
index 9a85b8509..0814c2181 100644
--- a/test/unit/dmail_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/dmail_test.rb
@@ -29,14 +29,11 @@ class DmailTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     end
 
     context "from a banned user" do
-      setup do
-        @user.update_attribute(:is_banned, true)
-      end
-
       should "not validate" do
-        dmail = FactoryBot.build(:dmail, :title => "xxx", :owner => @user)
-        dmail.save
-        assert_equal(1, dmail.errors.size)
+        user = create(:banned_user)
+        dmail = build(:dmail, owner: user, from: user)
+
+        assert_equal(false, dmail.valid?)
         assert_equal(["Sender is banned and cannot send messages"], dmail.errors.full_messages)
       end
     end
@@ -85,15 +82,10 @@ class DmailTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     should "create a copy for each user" do
       @new_user = FactoryBot.create(:user)
       assert_difference("Dmail.count", 2) do
-        Dmail.create_split(:to_id => @new_user.id, :title => "foo", :body => "foo")
+        Dmail.create_split(from: CurrentUser.user, creator_ip_addr: "127.0.0.1", to_id: @new_user.id, title: "foo", body: "foo")
       end
     end
 
-    should "record the creator's ip addr" do
-      dmail = FactoryBot.create(:dmail, owner: @user)
-      assert_equal(CurrentUser.ip_addr, dmail.creator_ip_addr.to_s)
-    end
-
     should "send an email if the user wants it" do
       user = create(:user, receive_email_notifications: true)
       assert_difference("ActionMailer::Base.deliveries.size", 1) do
@@ -104,14 +96,14 @@ class DmailTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     should "create only one message for a split response" do
       user = FactoryBot.create(:user, :receive_email_notifications => true)
       assert_difference("ActionMailer::Base.deliveries.size", 1) do
-        Dmail.create_split(:to_id => user.id, :title => "foo", :body => "foo")
+        Dmail.create_split(from: CurrentUser.user, creator_ip_addr: "127.0.0.1", to_id: user.id, title: "foo", body: "foo")
       end
     end
 
     should "notify the recipient he has mail" do
       recipient = create(:user)
 
-      Dmail.create_split(title: "hello", body: "hello", to_id: recipient.id)
+      create(:dmail, owner: recipient, to: recipient)
       assert_equal(1, recipient.reload.unread_dmail_count)
 
       recipient.dmails.unread.last.update!(is_read: true)