diff --git a/src/plugins/identity/contractIdentities.js b/src/plugins/identity/contractIdentities.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7f151ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/plugins/identity/contractIdentities.js
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+// @flow
+
+import * as Weights from "../../core/weights";
+import {type WeightedGraph as WeightedGraphT} from "../../core/weightedGraph";
+import {type NodeContraction, NodeAddress} from "../../core/graph";
+import {nodeContractions} from "./nodeContractions";
+import {type Identity} from "./identity";
+
+/**
+ * Applies nodeContractions to a WeightedGraph.
+ *
+ * This functionality is defined as part of the identity plugin rather than as
+ * a feature of WeightedGraph because it doesn't attempt to contract weights
+ * (it's not clear how to do this in a general principled way). Within the
+ * identity plugin, we do not expect user identities to have weights
+ * associated, so we can contract the graph without attempting to contract the
+ * weights.
+ *
+ * As a safety measure, this method will error if any of the node addresses
+ * being contracted has an explicitly set weight. It will not error if there
+ * are matching type weights, so that it is still possible (e.g.) to apply
+ * a weighting to an entire plugin.
+ *
+ * For more context on this decision, see discussion in #1591.
+ */
+export function _contractWeightedGraph(
+  wg: WeightedGraphT,
+  contractions: $ReadOnlyArray<NodeContraction>
+): WeightedGraphT {
+  const {graph, weights} = wg;
+  for (const {old} of contractions) {
+    for (const address of old) {
+      const weight = weights.nodeWeights.get(address) || 0;
+      if (weight !== 0) {
+        throw new Error(
+          `Explicit weight ${weight} on contracted node ${NodeAddress.toString(
+            address
+          )}`
+        );
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return {
+    graph: graph.contractNodes(contractions),
+    weights: Weights.copy(weights),
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Given a WeightedGraph and identity information, produce a contracted
+ * WeightedGraph where all of an identitiy's aliases have been contracted into
+ * a unified identity.
+ *
+ * An error will be thrown if any of the aliases had an explicitly set weight,
+ * since we don't currently support weight contraction.
+ *
+ * Note: This function has no unit tests, because it is a trivial composition
+ * of two tested functions. Thus, flow typechecking in sufficient. If adding
+ * any complexity to this function, please also add tests.
+ */
+export function contractIdentities(
+  wg: WeightedGraphT,
+  identities: $ReadOnlyArray<Identity>,
+  discourseUrl: string | null
+): WeightedGraphT {
+  return _contractWeightedGraph(wg, nodeContractions(identities, discourseUrl));
+}
diff --git a/src/plugins/identity/contractIdentities.test.js b/src/plugins/identity/contractIdentities.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c91b49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/plugins/identity/contractIdentities.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+// @flow
+
+import {node} from "../../core/graphTestUtil";
+import {Graph, NodeAddress} from "../../core/graph";
+import * as Weights from "../../core/weights";
+import {_contractWeightedGraph} from "./contractIdentities";
+
+describe("plugins/identity/contractIdentities", () => {
+  const a = node("a");
+  const b = node("b");
+  const c = node("c");
+  const graph = () => new Graph().addNode(a).addNode(b);
+  const contractions = () => [{old: [a.address, b.address], replacement: c}];
+  const weights = () => {
+    const w = Weights.empty();
+    w.nodeWeights.set(NodeAddress.empty, 3);
+    return w;
+  };
+  describe("_contractWeightedGraph", () => {
+    it("contracts the graph", () => {
+      const wg = {graph: graph(), weights: weights()};
+      const contracted = _contractWeightedGraph(wg, contractions());
+      const expected = graph().contractNodes(contractions());
+      expect(expected.equals(contracted.graph)).toBe(true);
+    });
+    it("returns a copy of the weights", () => {
+      const ws = weights();
+      const wg = {graph: graph(), weights: ws};
+      const contracted = _contractWeightedGraph(wg, contractions());
+      expect(contracted.weights).not.toBe(ws);
+      expect(ws).toEqual(contracted.weights);
+      // check they can be modified independently
+      ws.nodeWeights.set(a.address, 5);
+      expect(ws).not.toEqual(contracted.weights);
+    });
+    it("throws an error if a contracted node has an explicit weight", () => {
+      const ws = weights();
+      ws.nodeWeights.set(a.address, 5);
+      const wg = {graph: graph(), weights: ws};
+      expect(() => _contractWeightedGraph(wg, contractions())).toThrow(
+        "Explicit weight 5 on contracted node"
+      );
+    });
+  });
+});