diff --git a/Changelog.md b/Changelog.md
index 736e38950..2de7a30f1 100644
--- a/Changelog.md
+++ b/Changelog.md
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 * Remove two unused methods [#5970](https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/pull/5970)
 * Refactored the Logger to add basic logrotating and more useful timestamps [#5975](https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/pull/5975)
 * Gracefully handle mailer failures if a like is already deleted again [#5983](https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/pull/5983)
+* Ensure posts have an author [#5986](https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/pull/5986)
 
 ## Bug fixes
 * Disable auto follow back on aspect deletion [#5846](https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/pull/5846)
diff --git a/app/models/post.rb b/app/models/post.rb
index 3a5636922..ea317f5b1 100644
--- a/app/models/post.rb
+++ b/app/models/post.rb
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ class Post < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   validates_uniqueness_of :id
 
+  validates :author, presence: true
+
   after_create do
     self.touch(:interacted_at)
   end
diff --git a/app/models/status_message.rb b/app/models/status_message.rb
index 5d857c640..b9024cb3f 100644
--- a/app/models/status_message.rb
+++ b/app/models/status_message.rb
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ class StatusMessage < Post
   validates_length_of :text, :maximum => 65535, :message => proc {|p, v| I18n.t('status_messages.too_long', :count => 65535, :current_length => v[:value].length)}
 
   # don't allow creation of empty status messages
-  validate :presence_of_content, on: :create, if: proc { |sm| sm.author.local? }
+  validate :presence_of_content, on: :create, if: proc {|sm| sm.author && sm.author.local? }
 
   xml_name :status_message
   xml_attr :raw_message
diff --git a/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb b/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
index 605b6ede0..0f37390a4 100644
--- a/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ describe StatusMessage, :type => :model do
       expect(guids).to eq([sm1.guid])
     end
   end
-  
+
   describe '.before_validation' do
     it 'calls build_tags' do
       status = FactoryGirl.build(:status_message)
@@ -443,4 +443,12 @@ STR
       end
     end
   end
+
+  describe "validation" do
+    it "should not be valid if the author is missing" do
+      sm = FactoryGirl.build(:status_message, text: @message_text)
+      sm.author = nil
+      expect(sm).not_to be_valid
+    end
+  end
 end