diff --git a/lib/db/json.js b/lib/db/json.js
index 5305f0a2d36d37347b8eae322ce34b6926d1a708..d4efbf5e9a6a109eb57253c0ac678398ad60e986 100644
--- a/lib/db/json.js
+++ b/lib/db/json.js
@@ -208,6 +208,7 @@ exports.stageEmail = function(existing_email, new_email, cb) {
 
 
 exports.emailForVerificationSecret = function(secret, cb) {
+  sync();
   setTimeout(function() {
     cb(db.staged[secret] ? db.staged[secret].email : undefined);
   }, 0);