diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index 3f06794b69e..30cea7940f5 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
     user = if params[:username]
       username_lower = params[:username].downcase
       username_lower.gsub!(/\.json$/, '')
-      User.find_by(username_lower: username_lower)
+      User.find_by(username_lower: username_lower, active: true)
     elsif params[:external_id]
       SingleSignOnRecord.find_by(external_id: params[:external_id]).try(:user)
     end
diff --git a/app/models/user_search.rb b/app/models/user_search.rb
index de0af9c706b..535d1c29f0f 100644
--- a/app/models/user_search.rb
+++ b/app/models/user_search.rb
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ class UserSearch
   def search
     users = User.order(User.sql_fragment("CASE WHEN username_lower = ? THEN 0 ELSE 1 END ASC", @term.downcase))
 
+    users = users.where(active: true)
+
     if @term.present?
       if SiteSetting.enable_names?
         query = Search.ts_query(@term, "simple")
diff --git a/spec/controllers/users_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/users_controller_spec.rb
index 8f127939df9..8327893264d 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/users_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/users_controller_spec.rb
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@ describe UsersController do
       response.should_not be_success
     end
 
+    it 'returns not found when the user is inactive' do
+      inactive = Fabricate(:user, active: false)
+      xhr :get, :show, username: inactive.username
+      response.should_not be_success
+    end
+
     it "raises an error on invalid access" do
       Guardian.any_instance.expects(:can_see?).with(user).returns(false)
       xhr :get, :show, username: user.username
diff --git a/spec/fabricators/user_fabricator.rb b/spec/fabricators/user_fabricator.rb
index 4f02e1ee521..3aab6184bcf 100644
--- a/spec/fabricators/user_fabricator.rb
+++ b/spec/fabricators/user_fabricator.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Fabricator(:user) do
   password 'myawesomepassword'
   trust_level TrustLevel.levels[:basic]
   ip_address { sequence(:ip_address) { |i| "99.232.23.#{i%254}"} }
+  active true
 end
 
 Fabricator(:coding_horror, from: :user) do
@@ -58,7 +59,6 @@ Fabricator(:active_user, from: :user) do
   email { sequence(:email) { |i| "luke#{i}@skywalker.com" } }
   password 'myawesomepassword'
   trust_level TrustLevel.levels[:basic]
-  active true
 
   after_create do |user|
     user.user_profile.bio_raw = "Don't ask me about my dad!"
diff --git a/spec/jobs/enqueue_digest_emails_spec.rb b/spec/jobs/enqueue_digest_emails_spec.rb
index 6ead98900f1..4bf96acd587 100644
--- a/spec/jobs/enqueue_digest_emails_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/jobs/enqueue_digest_emails_spec.rb
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ describe Jobs::EnqueueDigestEmails do
     end
 
     context "inactive user" do
-      let!(:inactive_user) { Fabricate(:user) }
+      let!(:inactive_user) { Fabricate(:user, active: false) }
 
       it "doesn't return users who have been emailed recently" do
         Jobs::EnqueueDigestEmails.new.target_user_ids.include?(inactive_user.id).should be_false
diff --git a/spec/models/user_search_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_search_spec.rb
index 3e13ef361aa..52d8d489fd7 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_search_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_search_spec.rb
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ describe UserSearch do
   let(:user4)     { Fabricate :user, username: "mrpink",   name: "Steve Buscemi",  last_seen_at: 7.days.ago }
   let(:user5)     { Fabricate :user, username: "mrbrown",  name: "Quentin Tarantino", last_seen_at: 6.days.ago }
   let(:user6)     { Fabricate :user, username: "mrwhite",  name: "Harvey Keitel",  last_seen_at: 5.days.ago }
+  let!(:inactive)  { Fabricate :user, username: "Ghost", active: false }
   let(:admin)     { Fabricate :admin, username: "theadmin" }
   let(:moderator) { Fabricate :moderator, username: "themod" }
 
@@ -103,12 +104,13 @@ describe UserSearch do
     results = search_for("Tarantino")
     results.size.should == 0
 
-
     # find an exact match first
     results = search_for("mrB")
     results.first.should == user1
 
-
+    # don't return inactive users
+    results = search_for("Ghost")
+    results.should be_blank
   end
 
 end
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index fe55d6415db..c342d3bb262 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -205,7 +205,6 @@ describe User do
 
     it { should be_valid }
     it { should_not be_admin }
-    it { should_not be_active }
     it { should_not be_approved }
     its(:approved_at) { should be_blank }
     its(:approved_by_id) { should be_blank }