diff --git a/classes/Profile.php b/classes/Profile.php
index 5359ffb58b..09f9ca71d1 100644
--- a/classes/Profile.php
+++ b/classes/Profile.php
@@ -877,6 +877,11 @@ class Profile extends Managed_DataObject
 
     function delete($useWhere=false)
     {
+        // just in case it hadn't been done before... (usually set before adding deluser to queue handling!)
+        if (!$this->hasRole(Profile_role::DELETED)) {
+            $this->grantRole(Profile_role::DELETED);
+        }
+
         $this->_deleteNotices();
         $this->_deleteSubscriptions();
         $this->_deleteTags();
diff --git a/classes/User.php b/classes/User.php
index 5b9d7b51fe..e33c83e89c 100644
--- a/classes/User.php
+++ b/classes/User.php
@@ -598,8 +598,10 @@ class User extends Managed_DataObject
         }
 
         try {
-            $profile = $this->getProfile();
-            $profile->delete();
+            if (!$this->hasRole(Profile_role::DELETED)) {
+                $profile = $this->getProfile();
+                $profile->delete();
+            }
         } catch (UserNoProfileException $unp) {
             common_log(LOG_INFO, "User {$this->nickname} has no profile; continuing deletion.");
         }
diff --git a/lib/deluserqueuehandler.php b/lib/deluserqueuehandler.php
index 1baaf9331f..65866af418 100644
--- a/lib/deluserqueuehandler.php
+++ b/lib/deluserqueuehandler.php
@@ -74,8 +74,13 @@ class DelUserQueueHandler extends QueueHandler
             $qm = QueueManager::get();
             $qm->enqueue($user, 'deluser');
         } else {
-            // Out of notices? Let's finish deleting this guy!
-            $user->delete();
+            // Out of notices? Let's finish deleting this profile!
+            try {
+                $user->getProfile()->delete();
+            } catch (UserNoProfileException $e) {
+                // in case a profile didn't exist for some reason, just delete the User directly
+                $user->delete();
+            }
             common_log(LOG_INFO, "User $user->id $user->nickname deleted.");
             return true;
         }