diff --git a/browserid/static/dialog/controllers/dialog_controller.js b/browserid/static/dialog/controllers/dialog_controller.js
index ea221c5602c5d67e1d2772a2e8528e8478e31381..342fbc202722e4508048d6058f4d13faa1a40bd0 100644
--- a/browserid/static/dialog/controllers/dialog_controller.js
+++ b/browserid/static/dialog/controllers/dialog_controller.js
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ PageController.extend("Dialog", {}, {
     doCheckAuth: function() {
       this.doWait(BrowserIDWait.checkAuth);
       var self=this;
-      BrowserIDIdentities.checkAuthentication(function(authenticated) {
+      BrowserIDIdentities.checkAuthenticationAndSync(function(authenticated) {
         if (authenticated) {
           self.doSignIn();
         } else {
diff --git a/browserid/static/dialog/resources/browserid-identities.js b/browserid/static/dialog/resources/browserid-identities.js
index e71682dbbb1fdd9797e8a6bd7fc3be71722ca935..cd8f43cf754064c4841418e0663680deea58f8e0 100644
--- a/browserid/static/dialog/resources/browserid-identities.js
+++ b/browserid/static/dialog/resources/browserid-identities.js
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ var BrowserIDIdentities = (function() {
      * identities.
      * @method checkAuthentication
      */
-    checkAuthentication: function(onSuccess, onFailure) {
+    checkAuthenticationAndSync: function(onSuccess, onFailure) {
       var self=this;
       BrowserIDNetwork.checkAuth(function(authenticated) {
         if (authenticated) {
diff --git a/browserid/static/dialog/test/qunit/browserid-identities_test.js b/browserid/static/dialog/test/qunit/browserid-identities_test.js
index d912e093e37febb6ea11859a58827231054b1f23..5f29f9cc3ec1fb1283dd0200d88e38b11b87cf95 100644
--- a/browserid/static/dialog/test/qunit/browserid-identities_test.js
+++ b/browserid/static/dialog/test/qunit/browserid-identities_test.js
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ steal.plugins("jquery", "funcunit/qunit").then("/dialog/resources/browserid-iden
     BrowserIDIdentities.authenticateAndSync("testuser@testuser.com", "testuser", function() {
     }, function() {
       var identities = BrowserIDIdentities.getStoredIdentities();
-      ok("testuser@testuser.com" in identities, "checkAuthentication syncs email addresses");
+      ok("testuser@testuser.com" in identities, "authenticateAndSync syncs email addresses");
       start();
     }, failure("Authentication failure"));
 
@@ -97,12 +97,12 @@ steal.plugins("jquery", "funcunit/qunit").then("/dialog/resources/browserid-iden
 
   });
 
-  test("checkAuthentication", function() {
+  test("checkAuthenticationAndSync", function() {
     clearEmails();
     BrowserIDNetwork.authenticate("testuser@testuser.com", "testuser", function() {
-      BrowserIDIdentities.checkAuthentication(function() {
+      BrowserIDIdentities.checkAuthenticationAndSync(function() {
         var identities = BrowserIDIdentities.getStoredIdentities();
-        ok("testuser@testuser.com" in identities, "checkAuthentication syncs email addresses");
+        ok("testuser@testuser.com" in identities, "checkAuthenticationAndSync syncs email addresses");
         start();
       });
     }, failure("Authentication failure"));