diff --git a/app/controllers/forum_posts_controller.rb b/app/controllers/forum_posts_controller.rb
index ac186993c..88a40b51c 100644
--- a/app/controllers/forum_posts_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/forum_posts_controller.rb
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ class ForumPostsController < ApplicationController
   
   def destroy
     @forum_post = ForumPost.find(params[:id])
-    raise User::PrivilegeError unless CurrentUser.is_janitor?
+    raise User::PrivilegeError unless @forum_post.editable_by?(CurrentUser.user)
     @forum_post.update_attribute(:is_deleted, true)
     respond_with(@forum_post)
   end
diff --git a/app/models/forum_post.rb b/app/models/forum_post.rb
index 8184c1128..d31eda694 100644
--- a/app/models/forum_post.rb
+++ b/app/models/forum_post.rb
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ class ForumPost < ActiveRecord::Base
   validates_presence_of :body, :creator_id
   validate :validate_topic_is_unlocked
   before_destroy :validate_topic_is_unlocked
+  after_save :delete_topic_if_original_post
   
   module SearchMethods
     def body_matches(body)
@@ -122,6 +123,14 @@ class ForumPost < ActiveRecord::Base
     ForumPost.exists?(["id = ? and id = (select _.id from forum_posts _ where _.topic_id = ? order by _.id asc limit 1)", id, topic_id])
   end
   
+  def delete_topic_if_original_post
+    if is_deleted? && is_original_post?
+      topic.update_attribute(:is_deleted, true)
+    end
+    
+    true
+  end
+  
   def build_response
     dup.tap do |x|
       x.body = x.quoted_response
diff --git a/app/views/forum_topics/_form.html.erb b/app/views/forum_topics/_form.html.erb
index 5af4655f5..a3d6551bc 100644
--- a/app/views/forum_topics/_form.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/forum_topics/_form.html.erb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <%= f.input :title %>
 
     <%= f.simple_fields_for :original_post do |pf| %>
-      <% unless @forum_topic.new_record? %>
+      <% if !@forum_topic.new_record? %>
         <%= hidden_field_tag "forum_topic[original_post_attributes][topic_id]", @forum_topic.id %>
       <% end %>
       
diff --git a/test/unit/forum_post_test.rb b/test/unit/forum_post_test.rb
index a33a1ad96..07c785809 100644
--- a/test/unit/forum_post_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/forum_post_test.rb
@@ -69,6 +69,18 @@ class ForumPostTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
       assert_equal(@user.id, post.creator_id)
     end
     
+    context "that is deleted" do
+      setup do
+        @post = FactoryGirl.create(:forum_post, :topic_id => @topic.id)
+        @post.update_attribute(:is_deleted, true)
+        @topic.reload
+      end
+      
+      should "also delete the topic" do
+        assert(@topic.is_deleted)
+      end
+    end
+    
     context "updated by a second user" do
       setup do
         @post = FactoryGirl.create(:forum_post, :topic_id => @topic.id)