diff --git a/app/services/post_owner_changer.rb b/app/services/post_owner_changer.rb
index f419289faa0..730afcc8a34 100644
--- a/app/services/post_owner_changer.rb
+++ b/app/services/post_owner_changer.rb
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class PostOwnerChanger
         first_post_created_at: @new_owner.reload.posts.order('created_at ASC').first&.created_at
       )
 
-      @topic.save!
+      @topic.save!(validate: false)
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/services/post_owner_changer_spec.rb b/spec/services/post_owner_changer_spec.rb
index fb507dca7a0..e462bbe9bd7 100644
--- a/spec/services/post_owner_changer_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/post_owner_changer_spec.rb
@@ -65,9 +65,14 @@ describe PostOwnerChanger do
     it "changes the user even when the post does not pass validation" do
       p1.update_attribute(:raw, "foo")
       PostOwnerChanger.new(post_ids: [p1.id], topic_id: topic.id, new_owner: user_a, acting_user: editor).change_owner!
-      p1.reload
+      expect(p1.reload.user).to eq(user_a)
+    end
 
-      expect(p1.user).to eq(user_a)
+    it "changes the user even when the topic does not pass validation" do
+      topic.update_column(:title, "short")
+
+      PostOwnerChanger.new(post_ids: [p1.id], topic_id: topic.id, new_owner: user_a, acting_user: editor).change_owner!
+      expect(p1.reload.user).to eq(user_a)
     end
 
     context "integration tests" do