diff --git a/src/Model/Item.php b/src/Model/Item.php
index dec3716d01..75c3d08384 100644
--- a/src/Model/Item.php
+++ b/src/Model/Item.php
@@ -1385,6 +1385,19 @@ class Item
 			return false;
 		}
 
+		if (!empty($item['uid'])) {
+			$owner = User::getOwnerDataById($item['uid'], false);
+			if (!$owner) {
+				Logger::notice('Missing item user owner data', ['uid' => $item['uid']]);
+				return false;
+			}
+
+			if ($owner['account_expired'] || $owner['account_removed']) {
+				Logger::notice('Item user has been deleted/expired/removed', ['uid' => $item['uid'], 'deleted' => $owner['deleted'], 'account_expired' => $owner['account_expired'], 'account_removed' => $owner['account_removed']]);
+				return false;
+			}
+		}
+
 		if (!empty($item['author-id']) && Contact::isBlocked($item['author-id'])) {
 			Logger::notice('Author is blocked node-wide', ['author-link' => $item['author-link'], 'item-uri' => $item['uri']]);
 			return false;
diff --git a/src/Model/User.php b/src/Model/User.php
index bcd555a0ec..d3f3dfd1a9 100644
--- a/src/Model/User.php
+++ b/src/Model/User.php
@@ -370,12 +370,12 @@ class User
 	/**
 	 * Get owner data by user id
 	 *
-	 * @param int $uid
-	 * @param boolean $check_valid Test if data is invalid and correct it
+	 * @param int     $uid
+	 * @param boolean $repairMissing Repair the owner data if it's missing
 	 * @return boolean|array
 	 * @throws Exception
 	 */
-	public static function getOwnerDataById(int $uid, bool $check_valid = true)
+	public static function getOwnerDataById(int $uid, bool $repairMissing = true)
 	{
 		if ($uid == 0) {
 			return self::getSystemAccount();
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ class User
 
 		$owner = DBA::selectFirst('owner-view', [], ['uid' => $uid]);
 		if (!DBA::isResult($owner)) {
-			if (!DBA::exists('user', ['uid' => $uid]) || !$check_valid) {
+			if (!DBA::exists('user', ['uid' => $uid]) || !$repairMissing) {
 				return false;
 			}
 			Contact::createSelfFromUserId($uid);
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ class User
 			return false;
 		}
 
-		if (!$check_valid) {
+		if (!$repairMissing) {
 			return $owner;
 		}