diff --git a/fedireads/remote_user.py b/fedireads/remote_user.py
index 7708dfaa..aaffd6f7 100644
--- a/fedireads/remote_user.py
+++ b/fedireads/remote_user.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ from uuid import uuid4
 import requests
 
 from django.core.files.base import ContentFile
+from django.db import transaction
 
 from fedireads import models
 from fedireads.status import create_review_from_activity
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ from fedireads.status import create_review_from_activity
 def get_or_create_remote_user(actor):
     ''' look up a remote user or add them '''
     try:
-        return models.User.objects.get(actor=actor)
+        return models.User.objects.get(remote_id=actor)
     except models.User.DoesNotExist:
         pass
 
@@ -25,37 +26,47 @@ def get_or_create_remote_user(actor):
         response.raise_for_status()
     data = response.json()
 
-    # the webfinger format for the username.
     actor_parts = urlparse(actor)
+    with transaction.atomic():
+        user = create_remote_user(data)
+        user.federated_server = get_or_create_remote_server(actor_parts.netloc)
+        user.save()
+
+    avatar = get_avatar(data)
+    user.avatar.save(*avatar)
+
+    if user.fedireads_user:
+        get_remote_reviews(user)
+    return user
+
+
+def create_remote_user(data):
+    ''' parse the activitypub actor data into a user '''
+    actor = data.get('id')
+    actor_parts = urlparse(actor)
+
+    # the webfinger format for the username.
     username = '%s@%s' % (actor_parts.path.split('/')[-1], actor_parts.netloc)
+
     shared_inbox = data.get('endpoints').get('sharedInbox') if \
         data.get('endpoints') else None
 
-    server = get_or_create_remote_server(actor_parts.netloc)
-    avatar = get_avatar(data)
-
     # throws a key error if it can't find any of these fields
-    user = models.User.objects.create_user(
+    return models.User.objects.create_user(
         username,
         '', '', # email and passwords are left blank
-        actor=actor,
+        remote_id=actor,
         name=data.get('name'),
         summary=data.get('summary'),
         inbox=data['inbox'], #fail if there's no inbox
         outbox=data['outbox'], # fail if there's no outbox
         shared_inbox=shared_inbox,
-        # TODO: I'm never actually using this for remote users
         public_key=data.get('publicKey').get('publicKeyPem'),
         local=False,
         fedireads_user=data.get('fedireadsUser', False),
         manually_approves_followers=data.get(
             'manuallyApprovesFollowers', False),
-        federated_server=server,
     )
-    user.avatar.save(*avatar)
-    if user.fedireads_user:
-        get_remote_reviews(user)
-    return user
 
 
 def get_avatar(data):
diff --git a/fedireads/tests/data/ap_user.json b/fedireads/tests/data/ap_user.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..16b7fe21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fedireads/tests/data/ap_user.json
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+{
+    "@context": [
+        "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
+        "https://w3id.org/security/v1",
+        {
+            "manuallyApprovesFollowers": "as:manuallyApprovesFollowers",
+            "schema": "http://schema.org#",
+            "PropertyValue": "schema:PropertyValue",
+            "value": "schema:value"
+        }
+    ],
+    "id": "https://example.com/user/mouse",
+    "type": "Person",
+    "preferredUsername": "mouse",
+    "name": "MOUSE?? MOUSE!!",
+    "inbox": "https://example.com/user/mouse/inbox",
+    "outbox": "https://example.com/user/mouse/outbox",
+    "followers": "https://example.com/user/mouse/followers",
+    "following": "https://example.com/user/mouse/following",
+    "summary": "",
+    "publicKey": {
+        "id": "https://example.com/user/mouse/#main-key",
+        "owner": "https://example.com/user/mouse",
+        "publicKeyPem": "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\nMIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQC6QisDrjOQvkRo/MqNmSYPwqtt\nCxg/8rCW+9jKbFUKvqjTeKVotEE85122v/DCvobCCdfQuYIFdVMk+dB1xJ0iPGPg\nyU79QHY22NdV9mFKA2qtXVVxb5cxpA4PlwOHM6PM/k8B+H09OUrop2aPUAYwy+vg\n+MXyz8bAXrIS1kq6fQIDAQAB\n-----END PUBLIC KEY-----"
+    },
+    "endpoints": {
+        "sharedInbox": "https://example.com/inbox"
+    },
+    "fedireadsUser": true,
+    "manuallyApprovesFollowers": false,
+    "icon": {
+        "type": "Image",
+        "mediaType": "image/png",
+        "url": "https://example.com/images/avatars/AL-2-crop-50.png"
+    }
+}
diff --git a/fedireads/tests/test_remote_user.py b/fedireads/tests/test_remote_user.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..374c2e2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fedireads/tests/test_remote_user.py
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+from django.test import TestCase
+import json
+import pathlib
+
+from fedireads import models, remote_user
+
+
+class RemoteUser(TestCase):
+    ''' not too much going on in the books model but here we are '''
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.remote_user = models.User.objects.create_user(
+            'mouse', 'mouse@mouse.com', 'mouseword',
+            local=False,
+            remote_id='https://example.com/users/mouse',
+            inbox='https://example.com/users/mouse/inbox',
+            outbox='https://example.com/users/mouse/outbox',
+        )
+
+    def test_get_remote_user(self):
+        actor = 'https://example.com/users/mouse'
+        user = remote_user.get_or_create_remote_user(actor)
+        self.assertEqual(user, self.remote_user)
+
+
+    def test_create_remote_user(self):
+        datafile = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.joinpath('data/ap_user.json')
+        data = json.loads(datafile.read_bytes())
+        user = remote_user.create_remote_user(data)
+        self.assertEqual(user.username, 'mouse@example.com')
+        self.assertEqual(user.name, 'MOUSE?? MOUSE!!')
+        self.assertEqual(user.inbox, 'https://example.com/user/mouse/inbox')
+        self.assertEqual(user.outbox, 'https://example.com/user/mouse/outbox')
+        self.assertEqual(user.shared_inbox, 'https://example.com/inbox')
+        self.assertEqual(user.public_key, data['publicKey']['publicKeyPem'])
+        self.assertEqual(user.local, False)
+        self.assertEqual(user.fedireads_user, True)
+        self.assertEqual(user.manually_approves_followers, False)