diff --git a/actions/deleteuser.php b/actions/deleteuser.php
index c4f84fad2d..4e6b273953 100644
--- a/actions/deleteuser.php
+++ b/actions/deleteuser.php
@@ -162,7 +162,15 @@ class DeleteuserAction extends ProfileFormAction
     function handlePost()
     {
         if (Event::handle('StartDeleteUser', array($this, $this->user))) {
-            $this->user->delete();
+            // Mark the account as deleted and shove low-level deletion tasks
+            // to background queues. Removing a lot of posts can take a while...
+            if (!$this->user->hasRole(Profile_role::DELETED)) {
+                $this->user->grantRole(Profile_role::DELETED);
+            }
+
+            $qm = QueueManager::get();
+            $qm->enqueue($this->user, 'deluser');
+
             Event::handle('EndDeleteUser', array($this, $this->user));
         }
     }
diff --git a/classes/Profile.php b/classes/Profile.php
index 91f6e46922..eded1ff71f 100644
--- a/classes/Profile.php
+++ b/classes/Profile.php
@@ -732,6 +732,9 @@ class Profile extends Memcached_DataObject
     function hasRight($right)
     {
         $result = false;
+        if ($this->hasRole(Profile_role::DELETED)) {
+            return false;
+        }
         if (Event::handle('UserRightsCheck', array($this, $right, &$result))) {
             switch ($right)
             {
diff --git a/classes/Profile_role.php b/classes/Profile_role.php
index d0a0b31f0f..e7aa1f0f06 100644
--- a/classes/Profile_role.php
+++ b/classes/Profile_role.php
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ class Profile_role extends Memcached_DataObject
     const ADMINISTRATOR = 'administrator';
     const SANDBOXED     = 'sandboxed';
     const SILENCED      = 'silenced';
+    const DELETED       = 'deleted'; // Pending final deletion of notices...
 
     public static function isValid($role)
     {
diff --git a/lib/deluserqueuehandler.php b/lib/deluserqueuehandler.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4a1233a5ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/deluserqueuehandler.php
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+<?php
+/*
+ * StatusNet - the distributed open-source microblogging tool
+ * Copyright (C) 2010, StatusNet, Inc.
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Background job to delete prolific users without disrupting front-end too much.
+ *
+ * Up to 50 messages are deleted on each run through; when all messages are gone,
+ * the actual account is deleted.
+ *
+ * @package QueueHandler
+ * @maintainer Brion Vibber <brion@status.net>
+ */
+
+class DelUserQueueHandler extends QueueHandler
+{
+    const DELETION_WINDOW = 50;
+
+    public function transport()
+    {
+        return 'deluser';
+    }
+
+    public function handle($user)
+    {
+        if (!($user instanceof User)) {
+            common_log(LOG_ERR, "Got a bogus user, not deleting");
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        $user = User::staticGet('id', $user->id);
+        if (!$user) {
+            common_log(LOG_INFO, "User {$user->nickname} was deleted before we got here.");
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        if (!$user->hasRole(Profile_role::DELETED)) {
+            common_log(LOG_INFO, "User {$user->nickname} is not pending deletion; aborting.");
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        $notice = $this->getNextBatch($user);
+        if ($notice->N) {
+            common_log(LOG_INFO, "Deleting next {$notice->N} notices by {$user->nickname}");
+            while ($notice->fetch()) {
+                $del = clone($notice);
+                $del->delete();
+            }
+
+            // @todo improve reliability in case we died during the above deletions
+            // with a fatal error. If the job is lost, we should perform some kind
+            // of garbage collection later.
+
+            // Queue up the next batch.
+            $qm = QueueManager::get();
+            $qm->enqueue($user, 'deluser');
+        } else {
+            // Out of notices? Let's finish deleting this guy!
+            $user->delete();
+            common_log(LOG_INFO, "User $user->id $user->nickname deleted.");
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Fetch the next self::DELETION_WINDOW messages for this user.
+     * @return Notice
+     */
+    protected function getNextBatch(User $user)
+    {
+        $notice = new Notice();
+        $notice->profile_id = $user->id;
+        $notice->limit(self::DELETION_WINDOW);
+        $notice->find();
+        return $notice;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/lib/queuemanager.php b/lib/queuemanager.php
index 87bd356aa2..0829c8a8bc 100644
--- a/lib/queuemanager.php
+++ b/lib/queuemanager.php
@@ -264,6 +264,9 @@ abstract class QueueManager extends IoManager
                 $this->connect('sms', 'SmsQueueHandler');
             }
 
+            // Background user management tasks...
+            $this->connect('deluser', 'DelUserQueueHandler');
+
             // Broadcasting profile updates to OMB remote subscribers
             $this->connect('profile', 'ProfileQueueHandler');
 
diff --git a/lib/userprofile.php b/lib/userprofile.php
index 8464c24464..2c3b1ea453 100644
--- a/lib/userprofile.php
+++ b/lib/userprofile.php
@@ -228,6 +228,17 @@ class UserProfile extends Widget
 
     function showEntityActions()
     {
+        if ($this->profile->hasRole(Profile_role::DELETED)) {
+            $this->out->elementStart('div', 'entity_actions');
+            $this->out->element('h2', null, _('User actions'));
+            $this->out->elementStart('ul');
+            $this->out->elementStart('p', array('class' => 'profile_deleted'));
+            $this->out->text(_('User deletion in progress...'));
+            $this->out->elementEnd('p');
+            $this->out->elementEnd('ul');
+            $this->out->elementEnd('div');
+            return;
+        }
         if (Event::handle('StartProfilePageActionsSection', array(&$this->out, $this->profile))) {
 
             $cur = common_current_user();