diff --git a/zerver/lib/actions.py b/zerver/lib/actions.py
index 798a5e7382..91dcb6b54b 100644
--- a/zerver/lib/actions.py
+++ b/zerver/lib/actions.py
@@ -3556,9 +3556,9 @@ def notify_realm_emoji(realm):
     user_ids = [userdict['id'] for userdict in get_active_user_dicts_in_realm(realm)]
     send_event(event, user_ids)
 
-def check_add_realm_emoji(realm, name, img_url):
-    # type: (Realm, Text, Text) -> None
-    emoji = RealmEmoji(realm=realm, name=name, img_url=img_url)
+def check_add_realm_emoji(realm, name, img_url, author=None):
+    # type: (Realm, Text, Text, Optional[UserProfile]) -> None
+    emoji = RealmEmoji(realm=realm, name=name, img_url=img_url, author=author)
     emoji.full_clean()
     emoji.save()
     notify_realm_emoji(realm)
diff --git a/zerver/migrations/0046_realmemoji_author.py b/zerver/migrations/0046_realmemoji_author.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dc7001d32b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zerver/migrations/0046_realmemoji_author.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Generated by Django 1.10.4 on 2016-12-20 07:02
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.db import migrations, models
+import django.db.models.deletion
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('zerver', '0045_realm_waiting_period_threshold'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name='realmemoji',
+            name='author',
+            field=models.ForeignKey(blank=True, null=True, on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.CASCADE, to=settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/zerver/models.py b/zerver/models.py
index f87731b71a..7fb2da03e2 100644
--- a/zerver/models.py
+++ b/zerver/models.py
@@ -354,6 +354,7 @@ def list_of_domains_for_realm(realm):
     return list(RealmAlias.objects.filter(realm = realm).values_list('domain', flat=True))
 
 class RealmEmoji(ModelReprMixin, models.Model):
+    author = models.ForeignKey('UserProfile', blank=True, null=True)
     realm = models.ForeignKey(Realm) # type: Realm
     # Second part of the regex (negative lookbehind) disallows names ending with one of the punctuation characters
     name = models.TextField(validators=[MinLengthValidator(1),
diff --git a/zerver/tests/test_realm_emoji.py b/zerver/tests/test_realm_emoji.py
index 5891f11510..5a85344a6b 100644
--- a/zerver/tests/test_realm_emoji.py
+++ b/zerver/tests/test_realm_emoji.py
@@ -21,11 +21,14 @@ class RealmEmojiTest(ZulipTestCase):
 
     def test_upload(self):
         # type: () -> None
-        self.login("iago@zulip.com")
+        email = "iago@zulip.com"
+        self.login(email)
         data = {"name": "my_emoji", "url": "https://example.com/my_emoji"}
         result = self.client_put("/json/realm/emoji", info=data)
         self.assert_json_success(result)
         self.assertEqual(200, result.status_code)
+        emoji = RealmEmoji.objects.get(name=data['name'])
+        self.assertEqual(emoji.author.email, email)
 
         result = self.client_get("/json/realm/emoji")
         content = ujson.loads(result.content)
diff --git a/zerver/views/realm_emoji.py b/zerver/views/realm_emoji.py
index 54e5919a14..318263d192 100644
--- a/zerver/views/realm_emoji.py
+++ b/zerver/views/realm_emoji.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ def upload_emoji(request, user_profile):
     emoji_name = request.POST.get('name', None)
     emoji_url = request.POST.get('url', None)
     try:
-        check_add_realm_emoji(user_profile.realm, emoji_name, emoji_url)
+        check_add_realm_emoji(user_profile.realm, emoji_name, emoji_url, author=user_profile)
     except ValidationError as e:
         return json_error(e.messages[0])
     return json_success()