diff --git a/app/controllers/list_controller.rb b/app/controllers/list_controller.rb
index c7313f41d96..eb8bb2581d8 100644
--- a/app/controllers/list_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/list_controller.rb
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ class ListController < ApplicationController
     topic_query = TopicQuery.new(current_user, options)
 
     if current_user.present?
-      periods = [best_period_for(current_user.last_seen_at)]
+      periods = [best_period_for(current_user.previous_visit_at)]
     else
       periods = TopTopic.periods
     end
@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@ class ListController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   def best_period_for(date)
+    date ||= 1.year.ago
     return :yearly  if date < 180.days.ago
     return :monthly if date <  35.days.ago
     return :weekly  if date <   8.days.ago
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 7f7780d051d..6868e1a203c 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -607,8 +607,7 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
   private
 
   def previous_visit_at_update_required?(timestamp)
-    seen_before? &&
-      (last_seen_at < (timestamp - SiteSetting.previous_visit_timeout_hours.hours))
+    seen_before? && last_seen_at < (timestamp - SiteSetting.previous_visit_timeout_hours.hours)
   end
 
   def update_previous_visit(timestamp)
diff --git a/config/locales/client.en.yml b/config/locales/client.en.yml
index df7ab778063..e7207fab2c0 100644
--- a/config/locales/client.en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/client.en.yml
@@ -1127,7 +1127,7 @@ en:
         today: "Today"
         other_periods: "dig into other periods"
         redirect_reasons:
-          new_user: "Welcome! As a new visitor, we thought you might like to start with this list of the top discussion topics in the last year."
+          new_user: "Welcome! As a new visitor, we thought you might like to start with this list of the top discussion topics."
           not_seen_in_a_month: "Welcome back! We haven't seen you in a while. These are the top discussion topics since you've been away."
 
     browser_update: 'Unfortunately, <a href="http://www.discourse.org/faq/#browser">your browser is too old to work on this Discourse forum</a>. Please <a href="http://browsehappy.com">upgrade your browser</a>.'