diff --git a/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Collaborators/CollaboratorsHandler.coffee b/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Collaborators/CollaboratorsHandler.coffee
index 9620a09fba..9e44214990 100644
--- a/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Collaborators/CollaboratorsHandler.coffee
+++ b/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Collaborators/CollaboratorsHandler.coffee
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ module.exports = CollaboratorsHandler =
 		result = []
 		async.mapLimit members, 3,
 			(member, cb) ->
-				UserGetter.getUserById member.id, CollaboratorsHandler.USER_PROJECTION, (error, user) ->
+				UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById member.id, CollaboratorsHandler.USER_PROJECTION, (error, user) ->
 					return cb(error) if error?
 					if user?
 						result.push { user: user, privilegeLevel: member.privilegeLevel }
diff --git a/services/web/app/coffee/Features/User/UserGetter.coffee b/services/web/app/coffee/Features/User/UserGetter.coffee
index a7889fb798..306fbc7a10 100644
--- a/services/web/app/coffee/Features/User/UserGetter.coffee
+++ b/services/web/app/coffee/Features/User/UserGetter.coffee
@@ -27,18 +27,19 @@ module.exports = UserGetter =
 		
 		db.users.find { _id: { $in: user_ids} }, projection, callback
 
-	getUserById: (user_id, projection, callback = (error, user) ->) ->
+	getUserOrUserStubById: (user_id, projection, callback = (error, user) ->) ->
 		try
 			query = _id: ObjectId(user_id.toString())
 		catch e
 			return callback(new Error(e))
 		db.users.findOne query, projection, (error, user) ->
 			return callback(error) if error?
-			callback(null, user)
+			return callback(null, user) if user?
+			db.userstubs.findOne query, projection, callback
 
 [
 	'getUser',
 	'getUsers',
-	'getUserById'
+	'getUserOrUserStubById'
 ].map (method) ->
 	metrics.timeAsyncMethod UserGetter, method, 'mongo.UserGetter', logger
diff --git a/services/web/app/coffee/infrastructure/mongojs.coffee b/services/web/app/coffee/infrastructure/mongojs.coffee
index 15eb560a67..f1ed213435 100644
--- a/services/web/app/coffee/infrastructure/mongojs.coffee
+++ b/services/web/app/coffee/infrastructure/mongojs.coffee
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Settings = require "settings-sharelatex"
 mongojs = require "mongojs"
-db = mongojs(Settings.mongo.url, ["projects", "users"])
+db = mongojs(Settings.mongo.url, ["projects", "users", "userstubs"])
 module.exports =
 	db: db
 	ObjectId: mongojs.ObjectId
diff --git a/services/web/app/coffee/models/UserStub.coffee b/services/web/app/coffee/models/UserStub.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c37a7dfb30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/web/app/coffee/models/UserStub.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+Settings = require "settings-sharelatex"
+mongoose = require('mongoose')
+Schema = mongoose.Schema
+ObjectId = Schema.ObjectId
+
+UserStubSchema = new Schema
+	email      : { type : String, default : '' }
+	first_name : { type : String, default : '' }
+	last_name  : { type : String, default : '' }
+	overleaf   : { id: { type: Number } }
+
+conn = mongoose.createConnection(Settings.mongo.url, server: poolSize: 10)
+
+UserStub = conn.model('UserStub', UserStubSchema)
+
+model = mongoose.model 'UserStub', UserStubSchema
+exports.UserStub = UserStub
diff --git a/services/web/test/UnitTests/coffee/Collaborators/CollaboratorsHandlerTests.coffee b/services/web/test/UnitTests/coffee/Collaborators/CollaboratorsHandlerTests.coffee
index 5aa3b449fe..fd0bb157a7 100644
--- a/services/web/test/UnitTests/coffee/Collaborators/CollaboratorsHandlerTests.coffee
+++ b/services/web/test/UnitTests/coffee/Collaborators/CollaboratorsHandlerTests.coffee
@@ -97,12 +97,12 @@ describe "CollaboratorsHandler", ->
 				{ id: "read-write-ref-2", privilegeLevel: "readAndWrite", source: 'invite' }
 				{ id: "doesnt-exist", privilegeLevel: "readAndWrite", source: 'invite' }
 			])
-			@UserGetter.getUserById = sinon.stub()
-			@UserGetter.getUserById.withArgs("read-only-ref-1").yields(null, { _id: "read-only-ref-1" })
-			@UserGetter.getUserById.withArgs("read-only-ref-2").yields(null, { _id: "read-only-ref-2" })
-			@UserGetter.getUserById.withArgs("read-write-ref-1").yields(null, { _id: "read-write-ref-1" })
-			@UserGetter.getUserById.withArgs("read-write-ref-2").yields(null, { _id: "read-write-ref-2" })
-			@UserGetter.getUserById.withArgs("doesnt-exist").yields(null, null)
+			@UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById = sinon.stub()
+			@UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById.withArgs("read-only-ref-1").yields(null, { _id: "read-only-ref-1" })
+			@UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById.withArgs("read-only-ref-2").yields(null, { _id: "read-only-ref-2" })
+			@UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById.withArgs("read-write-ref-1").yields(null, { _id: "read-write-ref-1" })
+			@UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById.withArgs("read-write-ref-2").yields(null, { _id: "read-write-ref-2" })
+			@UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById.withArgs("doesnt-exist").yields(null, null)
 			@CollaboratorHandler.getMembersWithPrivilegeLevels @project_id, @callback
 
 		it "should return an array of members with their privilege levels", ->
@@ -125,12 +125,12 @@ describe "CollaboratorsHandler", ->
 				{ id: "read-write-ref-2", privilegeLevel: "readAndWrite", source: 'invite' }
 				{ id: "doesnt-exist", privilegeLevel: "readAndWrite", source: 'invite' }
 			])
-			@UserGetter.getUserById = sinon.stub()
-			@UserGetter.getUserById.withArgs("read-only-ref-1").yields(null, { _id: "read-only-ref-1" })
-			@UserGetter.getUserById.withArgs("read-only-ref-2").yields(null, { _id: "read-only-ref-2" })
-			@UserGetter.getUserById.withArgs("read-write-ref-1").yields(null, { _id: "read-write-ref-1" })
-			@UserGetter.getUserById.withArgs("read-write-ref-2").yields(null, { _id: "read-write-ref-2" })
-			@UserGetter.getUserById.withArgs("doesnt-exist").yields(null, null)
+			@UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById = sinon.stub()
+			@UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById.withArgs("read-only-ref-1").yields(null, { _id: "read-only-ref-1" })
+			@UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById.withArgs("read-only-ref-2").yields(null, { _id: "read-only-ref-2" })
+			@UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById.withArgs("read-write-ref-1").yields(null, { _id: "read-write-ref-1" })
+			@UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById.withArgs("read-write-ref-2").yields(null, { _id: "read-write-ref-2" })
+			@UserGetter.getUserOrUserStubById.withArgs("doesnt-exist").yields(null, null)
 			@CollaboratorHandler.getInvitedMembersWithPrivilegeLevels @project_id, @callback
 
 		it "should return an array of invited members with their privilege levels", ->