diff --git a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
index 346cf4d8bfe..be74190f803 100644
--- a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
@@ -641,7 +641,7 @@ class UsersController < ApplicationController
       primary_email = @user.primary_email
 
       primary_email.email = params[:email]
-      primary_email.should_validate_email = true
+      primary_email.skip_validate_email = false
 
       if primary_email.save
         @user.email_tokens.create(email: @user.email)
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 2895c212321..522081371f2 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   after_initialize :add_trust_level
 
-  before_validation :set_should_validate_email
+  before_validation :set_skip_validate_email
 
   after_create :create_email_token
   after_create :create_user_stat
@@ -1097,9 +1097,9 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
     true
   end
 
-  def set_should_validate_email
+  def set_skip_validate_email
     if self.primary_email
-      self.primary_email.should_validate_email = should_validate_email_address?
+      self.primary_email.skip_validate_email = !should_validate_email_address?
     end
 
     true
diff --git a/app/models/user_email.rb b/app/models/user_email.rb
index c7b35eb3cea..2186e6522ee 100644
--- a/app/models/user_email.rb
+++ b/app/models/user_email.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ require_dependency 'email_validator'
 class UserEmail < ActiveRecord::Base
   belongs_to :user
 
-  attr_accessor :should_validate_email
+  attr_accessor :skip_validate_email
 
   before_validation :strip_downcase_email
 
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class UserEmail < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
 
   def validate_email?
-    return false unless self.should_validate_email
+    return false if self.skip_validate_email
     email_changed?
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index ee0b4405a2f..4f4071bffa0 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ describe User do
     end
 
     it "doesn't enqueue the system message when the site settings disable it" do
-      SiteSetting.expects(:send_welcome_message?).returns(false)
+      SiteSetting.send_welcome_message = false
       Jobs.expects(:enqueue).with(:send_system_message, user_id: user.id, message_type: 'welcome_user').never
       user.enqueue_welcome_message('welcome_user')
     end