diff --git a/awx/main/middleware.py b/awx/main/middleware.py
index b36ac9b53c..84df036e74 100644
--- a/awx/main/middleware.py
+++ b/awx/main/middleware.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import logging
 import threading
 import uuid
 
-from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User, AnonymousUser
 from django.db.models.signals import post_save
 from django.db import IntegrityError
 from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect
@@ -62,7 +62,12 @@ class ActivityStreamMiddleware(threading.local):
     def set_actor(self, user, sender, instance, **kwargs):
         if sender == ActivityStream:
             if isinstance(user, User) and instance.actor is None:
-                instance.actor = user
+                user = User.objects.filter(id=user.id)
+                if user.exists():
+                    user = user[0]
+                    instance.actor = user
+                else:
+                    instance.actor = AnonymouseUser
                 instance.save(update_fields=['actor'])
             else:
                 if instance.id not in self.instance_ids: