diff --git a/bookwyrm/migrations/0038_auto_20210118_1951.py b/bookwyrm/migrations/0038_auto_20210118_1951.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..10ca5295
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/migrations/0038_auto_20210118_1951.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Generated by Django 3.0.7 on 2021-01-18 19:51
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('bookwyrm', '0037_auto_20210118_1900'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='user',
+            name='email',
+            field=models.EmailField(max_length=254, null=True, unique=True),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/bookwyrm/models/user.py b/bookwyrm/models/user.py
index fed58306..3b827077 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/models/user.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/models/user.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ from . import fields, Review
 class User(OrderedCollectionPageMixin, AbstractUser):
     ''' a user who wants to read books '''
     username = fields.UsernameField()
-    email = models.EmailField(unique=True)
+    email = models.EmailField(unique=True, null=True)
 
     key_pair = fields.OneToOneField(
         'KeyPair',