diff --git a/defender/tests.py b/defender/tests.py
index a3f5a8b..6b9b9cd 100644
--- a/defender/tests.py
+++ b/defender/tests.py
@@ -912,3 +912,21 @@ class TestUtils(DefenderTestCase):
         self.assertTrue(utils.is_source_ip_already_locked(ip))
         utils.unblock_ip(ip)
         self.assertFalse(utils.is_source_ip_already_locked(ip))
+
+    def test_username_argument_precedence(self):
+        """ test that the optional username argument has highest precedence when provided """
+        request_factory = RequestFactory()
+        request = request_factory.get(ADMIN_LOGIN_URL)
+        request.user = AnonymousUser()
+        request.session = SessionStore()
+        username = 'johndoe'
+
+        utils.block_username(request.user.username)
+
+        self.assertFalse(utils.is_already_locked(request, username=username))
+
+        utils.check_request(request, True, username=username)
+        self.assertEqual(utils.get_user_attempts(request, username=username), 1)
+
+        utils.add_login_attempt_to_db(request, True, username=username)
+        self.assertEqual(AccessAttempt.objects.filter(username=username).count(), 1)
diff --git a/defender/utils.py b/defender/utils.py
index 36e6676..d0aeddd 100644
--- a/defender/utils.py
+++ b/defender/utils.py
@@ -135,12 +135,12 @@ def get_username_from_request(request):
     return None
 
 
-def get_user_attempts(request, get_username=get_username_from_request):
+def get_user_attempts(request, get_username=get_username_from_request, username=None):
     """ Returns number of access attempts for this ip, username
     """
     ip_address = get_ip(request)
 
-    username = lower_username(get_username(request))
+    username = lower_username(username or get_username(request))
 
     # get by IP
     ip_count = REDIS_SERVER.get(get_ip_attempt_cache_key(ip_address))
@@ -310,10 +310,10 @@ def is_source_ip_already_locked(ip_address):
     return REDIS_SERVER.get(get_ip_blocked_cache_key(ip_address))
 
 
-def is_already_locked(request, get_username=get_username_from_request):
+def is_already_locked(request, get_username=get_username_from_request, username=None):
     """Parse the username & IP from the request, and see if it's
     already locked."""
-    user_blocked = is_user_already_locked(get_username(request))
+    user_blocked = is_user_already_locked(username or get_username(request))
     ip_blocked = is_source_ip_already_locked(get_ip(request))
 
     if config.LOCKOUT_BY_IP_USERNAME:
@@ -324,10 +324,11 @@ def is_already_locked(request, get_username=get_username_from_request):
 
 
 def check_request(request, login_unsuccessful,
-                  get_username=get_username_from_request):
+                  get_username=get_username_from_request,
+                  username=None):
     """ check the request, and process results"""
     ip_address = get_ip(request)
-    username = get_username(request)
+    username = username or get_username(request)
 
     if not login_unsuccessful:
         # user logged in -- forget the failed attempts
@@ -339,7 +340,8 @@ def check_request(request, login_unsuccessful,
 
 
 def add_login_attempt_to_db(request, login_valid,
-                            get_username=get_username_from_request):
+                            get_username=get_username_from_request,
+                            username=None):
     """ Create a record for the login attempt If using celery call celery
     task, if not, call the method normally """
 
@@ -347,7 +349,7 @@ def add_login_attempt_to_db(request, login_valid,
         # If we don't want to store in the database, then don't proceed.
         return
 
-    username = get_username(request)
+    username = username or get_username(request)
 
     user_agent = request.META.get('HTTP_USER_AGENT', '<unknown>')[:255]
     ip_address = get_ip(request)