diff --git a/actions/login.php b/actions/login.php
index 7ec9c32139..55eccf4b2c 100644
--- a/actions/login.php
+++ b/actions/login.php
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ class LoginAction extends Action
         $this->elementStart('ul', 'form_data');
         $this->elementStart('li');
         // TRANS: Field label on login page.
-        $this->input('nickname', _('Nickname'));
+        $this->input('nickname', _('Username or email'));
         $this->elementEnd('li');
         $this->elementStart('li');
         // TRANS: Field label on login page.
diff --git a/lib/util.php b/lib/util.php
index f830d9b643..0b637dd1cc 100644
--- a/lib/util.php
+++ b/lib/util.php
@@ -233,7 +233,13 @@ function common_check_user($nickname, $password)
     $authenticatedUser = false;
 
     if (Event::handle('StartCheckPassword', array($nickname, $password, &$authenticatedUser))) {
-        $user = User::staticGet('nickname', common_canonical_nickname($nickname));
+
+        if (common_is_email($nickname)) {
+            $user = User::staticGet('email', common_canonical_email($nickname));
+        } else {
+            $user = User::staticGet('nickname', common_canonical_nickname($nickname));
+        }
+
         if (!empty($user)) {
             if (!empty($password)) { // never allow login with blank password
                 if (0 == strcmp(common_munge_password($password, $user->id),
@@ -2297,3 +2303,8 @@ function common_log_perf_counters()
         }
     }
 }
+
+function common_is_email($str)
+{
+    return (strpos($str, '@') !== false);
+}