diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index b593c22fde3ece30eaa7557a2105bb8e480acfc6..c2355eaab99501c76b7330c348741fa5971599d0 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -190,6 +190,14 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
     def search query
       where("name LIKE :query OR email LIKE :query OR username LIKE :query", query: "%#{query}%")
     end
+
+    def by_username_or_id(name_or_id)
+      if (name_or_id.is_a?(Integer))
+        User.find_by_id(name_or_id)
+      else
+        User.find_by_username(name_or_id)
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   #
diff --git a/lib/api/helpers.rb b/lib/api/helpers.rb
index 996d3adb17491a53ec91dfa7904cff3eac4c7e90..4f189f3519672e651a48a49a6cffafdbc7984a23 100644
--- a/lib/api/helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/api/helpers.rb
@@ -12,25 +12,18 @@ module API
       if (identifier && !(@current_user.id == identifier || @current_user.username == identifier))
         render_api_error!('403 Forbidden: Must be admin to use sudo', 403) unless @current_user.is_admin?
         begin
-
-          if (identifier.is_a?(Integer))
-            user = User.find_by_id(identifier)
-          else
-            user = User.find_by_username(identifier)
-          end
-          if user.nil?
-            not_found!("No user id or username for: #{identifier}")
-          end
-          @current_user = user
+          @current_user = User.by_username_or_id(identifier)
         rescue => ex
           not_found!("No user id or username for: #{identifier}")
         end
+        not_found!("No user id or username for: #{identifier}") if current_user.nil?
       end
       @current_user
     end
 
     def sudo_identifier()
-      identifier = params[SUDO_PARAM] == nil ? env[SUDO_HEADER] : params[SUDO_PARAM]
+      identifier ||= params[SUDO_PARAM] ||= env[SUDO_HEADER]
+      # Regex for integers
       if (!!(identifier =~ /^[0-9]+$/))
         identifier.to_i
       else
@@ -129,10 +122,10 @@ module API
 
     def abilities
       @abilities ||= begin
-        abilities = Six.new
-        abilities << Ability
-        abilities
-      end
+                       abilities = Six.new
+                       abilities << Ability
+                       abilities
+                     end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index 695f0ae68462addf79fbe2321f417da71d9376ca..de06bf71dc1adb64ff8328d839bc16e748ef88d2 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -208,4 +208,14 @@ describe User do
       user.can_create_group.should == false
     end
   end
+
+  describe 'by_username_or_id' do
+    let(:user1){create(:user, username: 'foo')}
+    it "should get the correct user" do
+      User.by_username_or_id(user1.id).should == user1
+      User.by_username_or_id('foo').should == user1
+      User.by_username_or_id(-1).should be_nil
+      User.by_username_or_id('bar').should be_nil
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/requests/api/api_helpers_spec.rb b/spec/requests/api/api_helpers_spec.rb
index de71deabb8e5ef979864b05b85ac3c122de7b87d..a1cbfcd60e99e679a189183733a80b7e13d21305 100644
--- a/spec/requests/api/api_helpers_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/api/api_helpers_spec.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 require 'spec_helper'
 
-describe Gitlab::API do
-  include Gitlab::APIHelpers
+describe API do
+  include API::APIHelpers
   include ApiHelpers
   let(:user) { create(:user) }
   let(:admin) { create(:admin) }
@@ -13,27 +13,27 @@ describe Gitlab::API do
   def set_env(token_usr, identifier)
     clear_env
     clear_param
-    env[Gitlab::APIHelpers::PRIVATE_TOKEN_HEADER] = token_usr.private_token
-    env[Gitlab::APIHelpers::SUDO_HEADER] = identifier
+    env[API::APIHelpers::PRIVATE_TOKEN_HEADER] = token_usr.private_token
+    env[API::APIHelpers::SUDO_HEADER] = identifier
   end
 
 
   def set_param(token_usr, identifier)
     clear_env
     clear_param
-    params[Gitlab::APIHelpers::PRIVATE_TOKEN_PARAM] = token_usr.private_token
-    params[Gitlab::APIHelpers::SUDO_PARAM] = identifier
+    params[API::APIHelpers::PRIVATE_TOKEN_PARAM] = token_usr.private_token
+    params[API::APIHelpers::SUDO_PARAM] = identifier
   end
 
 
   def clear_env
-    env.delete(Gitlab::APIHelpers::PRIVATE_TOKEN_HEADER)
-    env.delete(Gitlab::APIHelpers::SUDO_HEADER)
+    env.delete(API::APIHelpers::PRIVATE_TOKEN_HEADER)
+    env.delete(API::APIHelpers::SUDO_HEADER)
   end
 
   def clear_param
-    params.delete(Gitlab::APIHelpers::PRIVATE_TOKEN_PARAM)
-    params.delete(Gitlab::APIHelpers::SUDO_PARAM)
+    params.delete(API::APIHelpers::PRIVATE_TOKEN_PARAM)
+    params.delete(API::APIHelpers::SUDO_PARAM)
   end
 
   def error!(message, status)
@@ -42,10 +42,10 @@ describe Gitlab::API do
 
   describe ".current_user" do
     it "should leave user as is when sudo not specified" do
-      env[Gitlab::APIHelpers::PRIVATE_TOKEN_HEADER] = user.private_token
+      env[API::APIHelpers::PRIVATE_TOKEN_HEADER] = user.private_token
       current_user.should == user
       clear_env
-      params[Gitlab::APIHelpers::PRIVATE_TOKEN_PARAM] = user.private_token
+      params[API::APIHelpers::PRIVATE_TOKEN_PARAM] = user.private_token
       current_user.should == user
     end