diff --git a/src/c3nav/site/static/site/js/c3nav.js b/src/c3nav/site/static/site/js/c3nav.js
index 138e0805..db3cfedf 100644
--- a/src/c3nav/site/static/site/js/c3nav.js
+++ b/src/c3nav/site/static/site/js/c3nav.js
@@ -1736,6 +1736,7 @@ c3nav = {
         window.location.reload();
     },
     _set_user_data: function (data) {
+        c3nav_api.authenticate();
         c3nav.user_data = data;
         var $user = $('header #user');
         $user.find('span').text(data.title);
diff --git a/src/c3nav/static/c3nav/js/api.js b/src/c3nav/static/c3nav/js/api.js
index 33351036..db8997c1 100644
--- a/src/c3nav/static/c3nav/js/api.js
+++ b/src/c3nav/static/c3nav/js/api.js
@@ -5,7 +5,11 @@
 
         constructor(base ) {
             this.base = base;
-            this.auth_promise = fetch(this.base+'auth/session/', {
+            this.auth_promise = this.authenticate();
+        }
+
+        authenticate() {
+            return fetch(this.base+'auth/session/', {
                 credentials: 'include',
                 method: 'GET',
             })