diff --git a/src/wp-admin/includes/schema.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
index ceb1011462..b22fcba437 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
@@ -1044,15 +1044,13 @@ function populate_network( $network_id = 1, $domain = '', $email = '', $site_nam
 		)
 	);
 
-	$site_user = get_userdata(
-		(int) $wpdb->get_var(
-			$wpdb->prepare(
-				"SELECT meta_value
-				FROM $wpdb->sitemeta
-				WHERE meta_key = %s AND site_id = %d",
-				'admin_user_id',
-				$network_id
-			)
+	$site_user = (int) $wpdb->get_var(
+		$wpdb->prepare(
+			"SELECT meta_value
+			FROM $wpdb->sitemeta
+			WHERE meta_key = %s AND site_id = %d",
+			'admin_user_id',
+			$network_id
 		)
 	);
 
@@ -1079,8 +1077,8 @@ function populate_network( $network_id = 1, $domain = '', $email = '', $site_nam
 			)
 		);
 		$current_site->blog_id = $wpdb->insert_id;
-		update_user_meta( $site_user->ID, 'source_domain', $domain );
-		update_user_meta( $site_user->ID, 'primary_blog', $current_site->blog_id );
+		update_user_meta( $site_user, 'source_domain', $domain );
+		update_user_meta( $site_user, 'primary_blog', $current_site->blog_id );
 
 		// Unable to use update_network_option() while populating the network.
 		$wpdb->insert(