diff --git a/src/backups.js b/src/backups.js
index 368dba2e5..24663f5ae 100644
--- a/src/backups.js
+++ b/src/backups.js
@@ -433,8 +433,8 @@ function backup(auditSource, callback) {
     callback(null);
 }
 
-function ensureBackup(callback) {
-    callback = callback || NOOP_CALLBACK;
+function ensureBackup(auditSource, callback) {
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof auditSource, 'object');
 
     getPaged(1, 1, function (error, backups) {
         if (error) {
@@ -447,8 +447,7 @@ function ensureBackup(callback) {
             return callback(null);
         }
 
-        var eventSource = { userId: null, username: 'cron' };
-        backup(eventSource, callback);
+        backup(auditSource, callback);
     });
 }
 
diff --git a/src/cron.js b/src/cron.js
index 83cea6229..1a776cd03 100644
--- a/src/cron.js
+++ b/src/cron.js
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ function recreateJobs(unusedTimeZone, callback) {
         if (gBackupJob) gBackupJob.stop();
         gBackupJob = new CronJob({
             cronTime: '00 00 */4 * * *', // every 4 hours
-            onTick: backups.ensureBackup,
+            onTick: backups.ensureBackup.bind(null, AUDIT_SOURCE, NOOP_CALLBACK),
             start: true,
             timeZone: allSettings[settings.TIME_ZONE_KEY]
         });