diff --git a/app/helpers/license_helper.rb b/app/helpers/license_helper.rb
index e94d8c0ca32a7094dfe8578edbc6a75190590b5c..d1cf1bf3a618ec4d3434d268e4a6a18393068408 100644
--- a/app/helpers/license_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/license_helper.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ module LicenseHelper
   delegate :new_admin_license_path, to: 'Gitlab::Routing.url_helpers'
 
   def current_active_user_count
-    User.active.count
+    User.real.count
   end
 
   def max_historical_user_count
diff --git a/app/models/historical_data.rb b/app/models/historical_data.rb
index 7dc2e127bbd39895c98e11a1d3926788b16738bd..a106abc1b3922cecbcd0735d67adf55702f753c6 100644
--- a/app/models/historical_data.rb
+++ b/app/models/historical_data.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ class << self
     def track!
       create!(
         date:               Date.today,
-        active_user_count:  User.active.count
+        active_user_count:  User.real.count
       )
     end
 
diff --git a/app/models/license.rb b/app/models/license.rb
index f20a8df41b287072800e9e1f59b1e945337ef59e..9c47e7f171160006ae50afdffcee8680b8d313d5 100644
--- a/app/models/license.rb
+++ b/app/models/license.rb
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ def previous_user_count
   end
 
   def current_active_users_count
-    @current_active_users_count ||= User.active.count
+    @current_active_users_count ||= User.real.count
   end
 
   def validate_with_trueup?
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 2df03f1c5ef3d721583c106be5ee9868ceefa56e..fcfa477af2cb3958fa78a917ed107bcc830fbb8f 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -210,6 +210,7 @@ def inactive_message
   scope :blocked, -> { with_states(:blocked, :ldap_blocked) }
   scope :external, -> { where(external: true) }
   scope :active, -> { with_state(:active) }
+  scope :real, -> { active.non_internal }
   scope :not_in_project, ->(project) { project.users.present? ? where("id not in (:ids)", ids: project.users.map(&:id) ) : all }
   scope :without_projects, -> { where('id NOT IN (SELECT DISTINCT(user_id) FROM members WHERE user_id IS NOT NULL AND requested_at IS NULL)') }
   scope :subscribed_for_admin_email, -> { where(admin_email_unsubscribed_at: nil) }
diff --git a/app/views/admin/dashboard/index.html.haml b/app/views/admin/dashboard/index.html.haml
index c422bff1c1dcacff2a34e5b5012df04d9ea126bf..632a31dde3dc547e6e6876f585334f58dad84127 100644
--- a/app/views/admin/dashboard/index.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/admin/dashboard/index.html.haml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
         %p
           Active Users
           %span.light.pull-right
-            = number_with_delimiter(User.active.count)
+            = number_with_delimiter(User.real.count)
       .col-md-4
         %h4
           Features
diff --git a/app/views/admin/users/index.html.haml b/app/views/admin/users/index.html.haml
index 9aa8eeaf2568310b0731b5c3c44165ac57019a89..b910e379aaa801e3ae21c2cfc3a347de6cb0a233 100644
--- a/app/views/admin/users/index.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/admin/users/index.html.haml
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
         = nav_link(html_options: { class: active_when(params[:filter].nil?) }) do
           = link_to admin_users_path do
             Active
-            %small.badge= number_with_delimiter(User.active.count)
+            %small.badge= number_with_delimiter(User.real.count)
         = nav_link(html_options: { class: active_when(params[:filter] == 'admins') }) do
           = link_to admin_users_path(filter: "admins") do
             Admins
diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased-ee/fix-user-count.yml b/changelogs/unreleased-ee/fix-user-count.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bfac4a9b26940275253ca56c3a89d7ec2297a026
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased-ee/fix-user-count.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+title: Fix user count to ignore non internal users
+merge_request:
+author:
diff --git a/lib/api/entities.rb b/lib/api/entities.rb
index ff02f5588d17fc62ab30974f6955032bf7d59088..cb427b8961b85af386b01f45216da7d7a1c9cc86 100644
--- a/lib/api/entities.rb
+++ b/lib/api/entities.rb
@@ -662,7 +662,7 @@ class License < Grape::Entity
       end
 
       expose :active_users do |license, options|
-        ::User.active.count
+        ::User.real.count
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/usage_data.rb b/lib/gitlab/usage_data.rb
index 51bc4c4285e69ebc392ba3c288b577ee3b01dd73..db1b3d65c7dc5695e4020dfc39f1faf521db7c55 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/usage_data.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/usage_data.rb
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ def service_desk_counts
       def license_usage_data
         usage_data = { uuid: current_application_settings.uuid,
                        version: Gitlab::VERSION,
-                       active_user_count: User.active.count,
+                       active_user_count: User.real.count,
                        mattermost_enabled: Gitlab.config.mattermost.enabled }
 
         license = ::License.current
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/usage_data_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/usage_data_spec.rb
index 3ab18f4dda3c99c8607d75bbeab4541098e7007c..e1a84fa62c3667ebdde5e868a1faff7da4fd1b3b 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/usage_data_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/usage_data_spec.rb
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@
       expect(subject[:license_md5]).to eq(Digest::MD5.hexdigest(license.data))
       expect(subject[:version]).to eq(Gitlab::VERSION)
       expect(subject[:licensee]).to eq(license.licensee)
-      expect(subject[:active_user_count]).to eq(User.active.count)
+      expect(subject[:active_user_count]).to eq(User.real.count)
       expect(subject[:licensee]).to eq(license.licensee)
       expect(subject[:license_user_count]).to eq(license.restricted_user_count)
       expect(subject[:license_starts_at]).to eq(license.starts_at)
diff --git a/spec/models/license_spec.rb b/spec/models/license_spec.rb
index ba8c0845e0089137cee638a49d6af851c7b68455..8b00d1af65a2bd351e9869b4bd81b5b7c10778cf 100644
--- a/spec/models/license_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/license_spec.rb
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@
     end
 
     describe "Historical active user count" do
-      let(:active_user_count) { User.active.count + 10 }
+      let(:real_user_count) { User.real.count + 10 }
       let(:date)              { License.current.starts_at }
-      let!(:historical_data)  { HistoricalData.create!(date: date, active_user_count: active_user_count) }
+      let!(:historical_data)  { HistoricalData.create!(date: date, real_user_count: real_user_count) }
 
       context "when there is no active user count restriction" do
         it "is valid" do
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 
       context "when the active user count restriction is exceeded" do
         before do
-          gl_license.restrictions = { active_user_count: active_user_count - 1 }
+          gl_license.restrictions = { real_user_count: real_user_count - 1 }
         end
 
         context "when the license started" do
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@
 
       context "when the active user count restriction is not exceeded" do
         before do
-          gl_license.restrictions = { active_user_count: active_user_count + 1 }
+          gl_license.restrictions = { real_user_count: real_user_count + 1 }
         end
 
         it "is valid" do
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@
 
       context "when the active user count is met exactly" do
         it "is valid" do
-          active_user_count = 100
-          gl_license.restrictions = { active_user_count: active_user_count }
+          real_user_count = 100
+          gl_license.restrictions = { real_user_count: real_user_count }
 
           expect(license).to be_valid
         end
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@
     describe 'downgrade' do
       context 'when more users were added in previous period' do
         before do
-          HistoricalData.create!(date: 6.months.ago, active_user_count: 15)
+          HistoricalData.create!(date: 6.months.ago, real_user_count: 15)
 
           set_restrictions(restricted_user_count: 5, previous_user_count: 10)
         end
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@
 
       context 'when no users were added in the previous period' do
         before do
-          HistoricalData.create!(date: 6.months.ago, active_user_count: 15)
+          HistoricalData.create!(date: 6.months.ago, real_user_count: 15)
 
           set_restrictions(restricted_user_count: 10, previous_user_count: 15)
         end
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ def build_license_with_add_ons(add_ons)
 
   def set_restrictions(opts)
     gl_license.restrictions = {
-      active_user_count: opts[:restricted_user_count],
+      real_user_count: opts[:restricted_user_count],
       previous_user_count: opts[:previous_user_count],
       trueup_quantity: opts[:trueup_quantity],
       trueup_from: (Date.today - 1.year).to_s,
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index c0f5c44708601de26f6116198ca3e7f105b20776..d2ba2dc223c1a3f48c5e6fa6953f1df0b22fcd97 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -1846,4 +1846,16 @@ def add_user(access)
       end
     end
   end
+
+  context '.real' do
+    before do
+      User.ghost
+      create(:user, name: 'user', state: 'active')
+      create(:user, name: 'user', state: 'blocked')
+    end
+
+    it 'only counts active and non internal users' do
+      expect(User.real.count).to eq(1)
+    end
+  end
 end