diff --git a/tos/compat.py b/tos/compat.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..11855c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tos/compat.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import django
+from django.conf import settings
+
+
+def get_fk_user_model():
+    if django.VERSION >= (1, 5):
+        return settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL
+    else:
+        from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+        return User
+
+
+def get_runtime_user_model():
+    if django.VERSION >= (1, 5):
+        from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+        return get_user_model()
+    else:
+        from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+        return User
diff --git a/tos/models.py b/tos/models.py
index dbdffe6..1174b7a 100644
--- a/tos/models.py
+++ b/tos/models.py
@@ -2,14 +2,7 @@ from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
 from django.db import models
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
 
-# Django 1.4 compatability
-try:
-    from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
-    USER_MODEL = get_user_model()
-except ImportError:
-    from django.contrib.auth.models import User
-    USER_MODEL = User
-
+from tos.compat import get_fk_user_model
 
 class NoActiveTermsOfService(ValidationError):
     pass
@@ -76,7 +69,7 @@ class TermsOfService(BaseModel):
 
 class UserAgreement(BaseModel):
     terms_of_service = models.ForeignKey(TermsOfService, related_name='terms')
-    user = models.ForeignKey(USER_MODEL, related_name='user_agreement')
+    user = models.ForeignKey(get_fk_user_model(), related_name='user_agreement')
 
     def __unicode__(self):
         return u'%s agreed to TOS: %s' % (self.user.username,
diff --git a/tos/tests/test_models.py b/tos/tests/test_models.py
index 5987939..42d3fc1 100644
--- a/tos/tests/test_models.py
+++ b/tos/tests/test_models.py
@@ -1,24 +1,24 @@
 from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
 from django.test import TestCase
 
+from tos.compat import get_runtime_user_model
 from tos.models import (
                         TermsOfService,
                         UserAgreement,
                         has_user_agreed_latest_tos,
-                        USER_MODEL
                        )
 
 
 class TestModels(TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        self.user1 = USER_MODEL.objects.create_user('user1',
+        self.user1 = get_runtime_user_model().objects.create_user('user1',
                                                     'user1@example.com',
                                                     'user1pass')
-        self.user2 = USER_MODEL.objects.create_user('user2',
+        self.user2 = get_runtime_user_model().objects.create_user('user2',
                                                     'user2@example.com',
                                                     'user2pass')
-        self.user3 = USER_MODEL.objects.create_user('user3',
+        self.user3 = get_runtime_user_model().objects.create_user('user3',
                                                     'user3@example.com',
                                                     'user3pass')
 
diff --git a/tos/tests/test_views.py b/tos/tests/test_views.py
index 5297965..7418867 100644
--- a/tos/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/tos/tests/test_views.py
@@ -2,20 +2,15 @@ from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
 from django.test import TestCase
 
-# Django 1.4 compatability
-try:
-    from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
-except ImportError:
-    from django.contrib.auth.models import User
-    get_user_model = lambda: User
+from tos.compat import get_runtime_user_model
+from tos.models import TermsOfService, UserAgreement, has_user_agreed_latest_tos
 
-from tos.models import TermsOfService, UserAgreement, has_user_agreed_latest_tos, USER_MODEL as USER
 
 class TestViews(TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        self.user1 = USER.objects.create_user('user1', 'user1@example.com', 'user1pass')
-        self.user2 = USER.objects.create_user('user2', 'user2@example.com', 'user2pass')
+        self.user1 = get_runtime_user_model().objects.create_user('user1', 'user1@example.com', 'user1pass')
+        self.user2 = get_runtime_user_model().objects.create_user('user2', 'user2@example.com', 'user2pass')
 
         self.tos1 = TermsOfService.objects.create(
             content="first edition of the terms of service",
diff --git a/tos/views.py b/tos/views.py
index 0b0bf1f..bcf7b19 100644
--- a/tos/views.py
+++ b/tos/views.py
@@ -13,16 +13,9 @@ from django.views.decorators.cache import never_cache
 from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_protect
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
 
+from tos.compat import get_runtime_user_model
 from tos.models import has_user_agreed_latest_tos, TermsOfService, UserAgreement
 
-# Django 1.4 compatability
-try:
-    from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
-    USER_MODEL = get_user_model()
-except ImportError:
-    from django.contrib.auth.models import User
-    USER_MODEL = User
-
 
 class TosView(TemplateView):
     template_name = "tos/tos.html"
@@ -58,7 +51,7 @@ def check_tos(request, template_name='tos/tos_check.html',
     tos = TermsOfService.objects.get_current_tos()
     if request.method == "POST":
         if request.POST.get("accept", "") == "accept":
-            user = USER_MODEL.objects.get(pk=request.session['tos_user'])
+            user = get_runtime_user_model().objects.get(pk=request.session['tos_user'])
             user.backend = request.session['tos_backend']
 
             # Save the user agreement to the new TOS