diff --git a/app/controllers/api/v2/mappings_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/v2/mappings_controller.rb
index ae25a3c2..61f18940 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/v2/mappings_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/v2/mappings_controller.rb
@@ -7,11 +7,13 @@ module Api
       end
 
       def update
-        # mappings are the only things where the user is set to the latest updater
-        # done this way so that the model hooks can use the mapping user to determine who took this action
-        resource.user = current_user if current_user.present? # current_user should always be present
+        # hack: set the user temporarily so the model hook can reference it, then set it back
+        temp = resource.user
+        resource.user = current_user
         update_action
         respond_with_resource
+        resourse.user = temp
+        update_action
       end
 
       def destroy
diff --git a/app/controllers/mappings_controller.rb b/app/controllers/mappings_controller.rb
index 61270948..f6fc05bf 100644
--- a/app/controllers/mappings_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/mappings_controller.rb
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ class MappingsController < ApplicationController
   def update
     @mapping = Mapping.find(params[:id])
     authorize @mapping
+    # hack: set the user temporarily so that the model hook can reference it, and then set it back
+    temp = @mapping.user 
     @mapping.user = current_user
     @mapping.assign_attributes(mapping_params)
 
@@ -39,12 +41,16 @@ class MappingsController < ApplicationController
     else
       render json: @mapping.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity
     end
+    # restore the original mapping creator
+    @mapping.user = temp
+    @mapping.save
   end
 
   # DELETE /mappings/1.json
   def destroy
     @mapping = Mapping.find(params[:id])
     authorize @mapping
+    # hack: set the user temporarily so that the model hook can reference this user who is taking the action
     @mapping.user = current_user
     @mapping.destroy