diff --git a/bookwyrm/migrations/0081_alter_user_last_active_date.py b/bookwyrm/migrations/0081_alter_user_last_active_date.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dc6b640f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/migrations/0081_alter_user_last_active_date.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Generated by Django 3.2.4 on 2021-08-06 02:51
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+import django.utils.timezone
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ("bookwyrm", "0080_alter_shelfbook_options"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name="user",
+            name="last_active_date",
+            field=models.DateTimeField(default=django.utils.timezone.now),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/bookwyrm/models/user.py b/bookwyrm/models/user.py
index 21b6bbaac..cb6941c9b 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/models/user.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/models/user.py
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ class User(OrderedCollectionPageMixin, AbstractUser):
     remote_id = fields.RemoteIdField(null=True, unique=True, activitypub_field="id")
     created_date = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
     updated_date = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)
-    last_active_date = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)
+    last_active_date = models.DateTimeField(default=timezone.now)
     manually_approves_followers = fields.BooleanField(default=False)
     show_goal = models.BooleanField(default=True)
     discoverable = fields.BooleanField(default=False)