diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 2d8449712..3e5046596 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
   validates_format_of :name, :with => /\A[^\s:]+\Z/, :on => :create, :message => "cannot have whitespace or colons"
   validates_format_of :name, :with => /\A[^_].*[^_]\Z/, :on => :create, :message => "cannot begin or end with an underscore"
   validates_uniqueness_of :name, :case_sensitive => false
-  validates_uniqueness_of :email, :case_sensitive => false, :if => lambda {|rec| rec.email.present?}
+  validates_uniqueness_of :email, :case_sensitive => false, :if => lambda {|rec| rec.email.present? && rec.email_changed? }
   validates_length_of :password, :minimum => 5, :if => lambda {|rec| rec.new_record? || rec.password.present?}
   validates_inclusion_of :default_image_size, :in => %w(large original)
   validates_inclusion_of :per_page, :in => 1..100