diff --git a/plugin/helpers_bots.go b/plugin/helpers_bots.go
index b83adc7f30..664a954d5d 100644
--- a/plugin/helpers_bots.go
+++ b/plugin/helpers_bots.go
@@ -46,10 +46,10 @@ func (p *HelpersImpl) EnsureBot(bot *model.Bot) (retBotId string, retErr error)
 			if kvSetErr := p.API.KVSet(BOT_USER_KEY, []byte(user.Id)); kvSetErr != nil {
 				p.API.LogWarn("Failed to set claimed bot user id.", "userid", user.Id, "err", kvSetErr)
 			}
-			return user.Id, nil
 		} else {
-			return "", errors.New("unable to create bot because user exists with the same name")
+			p.API.LogError("Plugin attempted to use an account that already exists. Convert user to a bot account in the CLI by running 'mattermost user convert <username> --bot'. If the user is an existing user account you want to preserve, change its username and restart the Mattermost server, after which the plugin will create a bot account with that name. For more information about bot accounts, see https://mattermost.com/pl/default-bot-accounts", "username", bot.Username, "user_id", user.Id)
 		}
+		return user.Id, nil
 	}
 
 	// Create a new bot user for the plugin
diff --git a/plugin/helpers_bots_test.go b/plugin/helpers_bots_test.go
index 30cd05685c..776c32a10b 100644
--- a/plugin/helpers_bots_test.go
+++ b/plugin/helpers_bots_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mattermost/mattermost-server/model"
 	"github.com/mattermost/mattermost-server/plugin"
 	"github.com/mattermost/mattermost-server/plugin/plugintest"
+	"github.com/mattermost/mattermost-server/plugin/plugintest/mock"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
@@ -115,13 +116,15 @@ func TestEnsureBot(t *testing.T) {
 			assert.Nil(t, err)
 		})
 
-		t.Run("should fail if user exists with the same name and is not a bot", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Run("should return the non-bot account but log a message if user exists with the same name and is not a bot", func(t *testing.T) {
+			expectedBotId := model.NewId()
 			api := setupAPI()
 			api.On("KVGet", plugin.BOT_USER_KEY).Return(nil, nil)
 			api.On("GetUserByUsername", testbot.Username).Return(&model.User{
-				Id:    "conflictingid",
+				Id:    expectedBotId,
 				IsBot: false,
 			}, nil)
+			api.On("LogError", mock.Anything, mock.Anything, mock.Anything, mock.Anything, mock.Anything).Return()
 			defer api.AssertExpectations(t)
 
 			p := &plugin.HelpersImpl{}
@@ -129,10 +132,8 @@ func TestEnsureBot(t *testing.T) {
 
 			botId, err := p.EnsureBot(testbot)
 
-			t.Log(botId)
-			t.Log(err)
-			assert.Equal(t, "", botId)
-			assert.NotNil(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(t, expectedBotId, botId)
+			assert.Nil(t, err)
 		})
 
 		t.Run("shoudl fail if create bot fails", func(t *testing.T) {