diff --git a/rhodecode/controllers/journal.py b/rhodecode/controllers/journal.py
--- a/rhodecode/controllers/journal.py
+++ b/rhodecode/controllers/journal.py
@@ -114,7 +114,8 @@ class JournalController(BaseController):
         groups = []
         for k, g in groupby(journal, lambda x: x.action_as_day):
             user_group = []
-            for k2, g2 in groupby(list(g), lambda x: x.user.email):
+            #groupby username if it's a present value, else fallback to journal username
+            for _, g2 in groupby(list(g), lambda x: x.user.username if x.user else x.username):
                 l = list(g2)
                 user_group.append((l[0].user, l))
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/public/css/style.css b/rhodecode/public/css/style.css
--- a/rhodecode/public/css/style.css
+++ b/rhodecode/public/css/style.css
@@ -2327,6 +2327,15 @@ a.metatag[tag="license"]:hover {
 	height: 30px;
 }
 
+#journal .journal_user.deleted {
+    color: #747474;
+    font-size: 14px;
+    font-weight: normal;
+    height: 30px;
+    font-style: italic;
+}
+
+
 #journal .journal_icon {
 	clear: both;
 	float: left;
diff --git a/rhodecode/templates/journal/journal_data.html b/rhodecode/templates/journal/journal_data.html
--- a/rhodecode/templates/journal/journal_data.html
+++ b/rhodecode/templates/journal/journal_data.html
@@ -6,9 +6,13 @@
         % for user,entries in items:
 	        <div class="journal_container">
 	            <div class="gravatar">
-	                <img alt="gravatar" src="${h.gravatar_url(user.email,24)}"/>
+	                <img alt="gravatar" src="${h.gravatar_url(user.email if user else 'anonymous@rhodecode.org',24)}"/>
 	            </div>
-	            <div class="journal_user">${user.name} ${user.lastname}</div>
+                %if user:
+	               <div class="journal_user">${user.name} ${user.lastname}</div>
+                %else:
+                    <div class="journal_user deleted">${entries[0].username}</div>
+                %endif
 	            <div class="journal_action_container">
 	            % for entry in entries:
 		            <div class="journal_icon"> ${h.action_parser(entry)[2]()}</div>