diff --git a/includes/wc-account-functions.php b/includes/wc-account-functions.php
index f705abe38f6..7ec43bd8874 100644
--- a/includes/wc-account-functions.php
+++ b/includes/wc-account-functions.php
@@ -86,13 +86,11 @@ function wc_get_account_menu_items() {
 		'customer-logout' => __( 'Logout', 'woocommerce' ),
 	);
 
-	// Remove empty items.
-	if ( ! empty( WC()->customer ) ) {
-		$downloads = WC()->customer->get_downloadable_products();
+	// Remove downloads if no downloadable products exist.
+	$downloads = wc_get_customer_download_permissions( get_current_user_id() );
 
-		if ( ! sizeof( $downloads ) ) {
-			unset( $items['downloads'] );
-		}
+	if ( ! sizeof( $downloads ) ) {
+		unset( $items['downloads'] );
 	}
 
 	// Check if payment gateways support add new payment methods.
diff --git a/includes/wc-user-functions.php b/includes/wc-user-functions.php
index 8b668a12127..697b760fde1 100644
--- a/includes/wc-user-functions.php
+++ b/includes/wc-user-functions.php
@@ -351,6 +351,39 @@ function wc_modify_map_meta_cap( $caps, $cap, $user_id, $args ) {
 }
 add_filter( 'map_meta_cap', 'wc_modify_map_meta_cap', 10, 4 );
 
+/**
+ * Get customer download permissions from the database.
+ *
+ * @param int $customer_id Customer/User ID
+ * @return array
+ */
+function wc_get_customer_download_permissions( $customer_id ) {
+	global $wpdb;
+
+	return apply_filters( 'woocommerce_permission_list', $wpdb->get_results(
+		$wpdb->prepare( "
+			SELECT * FROM {$wpdb->prefix}woocommerce_downloadable_product_permissions as permissions
+			WHERE user_id = %d
+			AND permissions.order_id > 0
+			AND
+				(
+					permissions.downloads_remaining > 0
+					OR permissions.downloads_remaining = ''
+				)
+			AND
+				(
+					permissions.access_expires IS NULL
+					OR permissions.access_expires >= %s
+					OR permissions.access_expires = '0000-00-00 00:00:00'
+				)
+			ORDER BY permissions.order_id, permissions.product_id, permissions.permission_id;
+			",
+			$customer_id,
+			date( 'Y-m-d', current_time( 'timestamp' ) )
+		)
+	), $customer_id );
+}
+
 /**
  * Get customer available downloads.
  *
@@ -358,35 +391,13 @@ add_filter( 'map_meta_cap', 'wc_modify_map_meta_cap', 10, 4 );
  * @return array
  */
 function wc_get_customer_available_downloads( $customer_id ) {
-	global $wpdb;
-
 	$downloads   = array();
 	$_product    = null;
 	$order       = null;
 	$file_number = 0;
 
 	// Get results from valid orders only
-	$results = apply_filters( 'woocommerce_permission_list', $wpdb->get_results( $wpdb->prepare( "
-		SELECT permissions.*
-		FROM {$wpdb->prefix}woocommerce_downloadable_product_permissions as permissions
-		WHERE user_id = %d
-		AND permissions.order_id > 0
-		AND
-			(
-				permissions.downloads_remaining > 0
-				OR
-				permissions.downloads_remaining = ''
-			)
-		AND
-			(
-				permissions.access_expires IS NULL
-				OR
-				permissions.access_expires >= %s
-				OR
-				permissions.access_expires = '0000-00-00 00:00:00'
-			)
-		ORDER BY permissions.order_id, permissions.product_id, permissions.permission_id;
-		", $customer_id, date( 'Y-m-d', current_time( 'timestamp' ) ) ) ), $customer_id );
+	$results = wc_get_customer_download_permissions( $customer_id );
 
 	if ( $results ) {
 		foreach ( $results as $result ) {