diff --git a/authority/forms.py b/authority/forms.py
index 6d3a8f9..fd5d69b 100644
--- a/authority/forms.py
+++ b/authority/forms.py
@@ -6,10 +6,7 @@ from django.utils.safestring import mark_safe
 
 from authority import permissions, get_choices_for
 from authority.models import Permission
-from authority.utils import get_user_class
-
-
-User = get_user_class()
+from authority.utils import User
 
 
 class BasePermissionForm(forms.ModelForm):
diff --git a/authority/models.py b/authority/models.py
index 3091f2f..041ebfa 100644
--- a/authority/models.py
+++ b/authority/models.py
@@ -7,9 +7,7 @@ from django.contrib.auth.models import User, Group
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
 
 from authority.managers import PermissionManager
-
-
-USER_MODEL = getattr(settings, 'AUTH_USER_MODEL', 'auth.User')
+from authority.utils import User
 
 
 class Permission(models.Model):
@@ -23,9 +21,9 @@ class Permission(models.Model):
     object_id = models.PositiveIntegerField()
     content_object = generic.GenericForeignKey('content_type', 'object_id')
 
-    user = models.ForeignKey(USER_MODEL, null=True, blank=True, related_name='granted_permissions')
+    user = models.ForeignKey(User, null=True, blank=True, related_name='granted_permissions')
     group = models.ForeignKey(Group, null=True, blank=True)
-    creator = models.ForeignKey(USER_MODEL, null=True, blank=True, related_name='created_permissions')
+    creator = models.ForeignKey(User, null=True, blank=True, related_name='created_permissions')
 
     approved = models.BooleanField(_('approved'), default=False, help_text=_("Designates whether the permission has been approved and treated as active. Unselect this instead of deleting permissions."))
 
diff --git a/authority/templatetags/permissions.py b/authority/templatetags/permissions.py
index e93d1e0..dd8efac 100644
--- a/authority/templatetags/permissions.py
+++ b/authority/templatetags/permissions.py
@@ -8,13 +8,11 @@ from authority import get_check
 from authority import permissions
 from authority.models import Permission
 from authority.forms import UserPermissionForm
-from authority.utils import get_user_class
+from authority.utils import User
 
 
 register = template.Library()
 
-User = get_user_class()
-
 
 @register.simple_tag
 def url_for_obj(view_name, obj):
diff --git a/authority/tests.py b/authority/tests.py
index bddee05..cbcea3a 100644
--- a/authority/tests.py
+++ b/authority/tests.py
@@ -8,10 +8,7 @@ import authority
 from authority import permissions
 from authority.models import Permission
 from authority.exceptions import NotAModel, UnsavedModelInstance
-from authority.utils import get_user_class
-
-
-User = get_user_class()
+from authority.utils import User
 
 
 class UserPermission(permissions.BasePermission):
diff --git a/authority/utils.py b/authority/utils.py
index f38f0c5..6da3f11 100644
--- a/authority/utils.py
+++ b/authority/utils.py
@@ -5,4 +5,7 @@ def get_user_class():
     if hasattr(auth, "get_user_model"):
         return auth.get_user_model()
     else:
-        return auth.models.User
\ No newline at end of file
+        return auth.models.User
+
+
+User = get_user_class()
\ No newline at end of file