diff --git a/bugsnag-android-core/src/androidTest/java/com/bugsnag/android/UserStoreTest.kt b/bugsnag-android-core/src/androidTest/java/com/bugsnag/android/UserStoreTest.kt
index 8125e6ff6a..27bcb70a3e 100644
--- a/bugsnag-android-core/src/androidTest/java/com/bugsnag/android/UserStoreTest.kt
+++ b/bugsnag-android-core/src/androidTest/java/com/bugsnag/android/UserStoreTest.kt
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import androidx.test.core.app.ApplicationProvider
 import com.bugsnag.android.internal.ImmutableConfig
 import org.junit.After
 import org.junit.Assert.assertEquals
+import org.junit.Assert.assertFalse
 import org.junit.Assert.assertNull
 import org.junit.Before
 import org.junit.Test
@@ -145,11 +146,8 @@ internal class UserStoreTest {
             prefMigrator,
             NoopLogger
         )
-        val user = store.load(User()).user
-        assertEquals("device-id-123", user.id)
-        assertNull(user.email)
-        assertNull(user.name)
-        assertEquals("", file.readText())
+        store.load(User()).user
+        assertFalse(file.exists())
     }
 
     /**
@@ -159,7 +157,7 @@ internal class UserStoreTest {
     fun saveWithoutPersistUser() {
         val store = UserStore(generateConfig(false), "", file, prefMigrator, NoopLogger)
         store.save(User("123", "joe@yahoo.com", "Joe Bloggs"))
-        assertEquals("", file.readText())
+        assertFalse(file.exists())
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/bugsnag-android-core/src/main/java/com/bugsnag/android/SynchronizedStreamableStore.kt b/bugsnag-android-core/src/main/java/com/bugsnag/android/SynchronizedStreamableStore.kt
index 66bf136e56..f7d53367c9 100644
--- a/bugsnag-android-core/src/main/java/com/bugsnag/android/SynchronizedStreamableStore.kt
+++ b/bugsnag-android-core/src/main/java/com/bugsnag/android/SynchronizedStreamableStore.kt
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import kotlin.concurrent.withLock
  * This class is made thread safe through the use of a [ReadWriteLock].
  */
 internal class SynchronizedStreamableStore<T : JsonStream.Streamable>(
-    private val file: File
+    internal val file: File
 ) {
 
     private val lock = ReentrantReadWriteLock()
diff --git a/bugsnag-android-core/src/main/java/com/bugsnag/android/UserStore.kt b/bugsnag-android-core/src/main/java/com/bugsnag/android/UserStore.kt
index 1bd0b19201..87adf40e16 100644
--- a/bugsnag-android-core/src/main/java/com/bugsnag/android/UserStore.kt
+++ b/bugsnag-android-core/src/main/java/com/bugsnag/android/UserStore.kt
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package com.bugsnag.android
 import com.bugsnag.android.internal.ImmutableConfig
 import com.bugsnag.android.internal.StateObserver
 import java.io.File
-import java.io.IOException
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference
 
 /**
@@ -22,11 +21,6 @@ internal class UserStore @JvmOverloads constructor(
     private val previousUser = AtomicReference<User?>(null)
 
     init {
-        try {
-            file.createNewFile()
-        } catch (exc: IOException) {
-            logger.w("Failed to created device ID file", exc)
-        }
         this.synchronizedStreamableStore = SynchronizedStreamableStore(file)
     }
 
@@ -87,13 +81,19 @@ internal class UserStore @JvmOverloads constructor(
             val legacyUser = sharedPrefMigrator.loadUser(deviceId)
             save(legacyUser)
             legacyUser
-        } else {
-            return try {
+        } else if (
+            synchronizedStreamableStore.file.canRead() &&
+            synchronizedStreamableStore.file.length() > 0L &&
+            persist
+        ) {
+            try {
                 synchronizedStreamableStore.load(User.Companion::fromReader)
             } catch (exc: Exception) {
                 logger.w("Failed to load user info", exc)
                 null
             }
+        } else {
+            null
         }
     }
 }