diff --git a/app/controllers/artefacts_controller.rb b/app/controllers/artefacts_controller.rb
index 6f59a083..48e1eb8f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/artefacts_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/artefacts_controller.rb
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ def edit
   end
 
   def create
-    @artefact.save_as current_user
+    @artefact.save_as action_user
     respond_with @artefact, location: @artefact.admin_url(params.slice(:return_to))
   end
 
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ def update
       return
     end
 
-    saved = @artefact.update_attributes_as(current_user, parameters_to_use)
+    saved = @artefact.update_attributes_as(action_user, parameters_to_use)
     flash[:notice] = saved ? 'Panopticon item updated' : 'Failed to save item'
 
     if saved && params[:commit] == 'Save and continue editing'
@@ -111,4 +111,11 @@ def extract_parameters(params)
       parameters_to_use
     end
 
+    def action_user
+      # The user to associate with actions
+      # Currently this returns nil for the API user: this should go away once
+      # we have real user authentication for API requests
+      action_user = current_user.is_a?(User) ? current_user : nil
+    end
+
 end
diff --git a/test/functional/artefacts_controller_test.rb b/test/functional/artefacts_controller_test.rb
index 2a71bb38..a7d0c242 100644
--- a/test/functional/artefacts_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/functional/artefacts_controller_test.rb
@@ -158,6 +158,25 @@ class ArtefactsControllerTest < ActionController::TestCase
         assert_equal stub_user, artefact.actions.last.user
       end
 
+      should "Not record the user for API requests" do
+        login_as GDS::SSO::ApiUser.new
+        artefact = Artefact.create!(
+          :slug => 'whatever',
+          :kind => 'guide',
+          :owning_app => 'publisher',
+          :rendering_app => 'frontend',
+          :name => 'Whatever',
+          :need_id => 1
+        )
+
+        put :update, id: artefact.id, format: :json, name: "Changed"
+        assert_response :success
+
+        artefact.reload
+        assert_equal nil, artefact.actions.last.user
+      end
+
+
       should "Update our primary section and ensure it persists into sections" do
         @tags = FactoryGirl.create_list(:tag, 3)
         artefact = Artefact.create!(:slug => 'whatever', :kind => 'guide',
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index 9e0e27d9..0057d9e0 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -41,10 +41,14 @@ def stub_user
   end
 
   def login_as_stub_user
+    login_as stub_user
+  end
+
+  def login_as(user)
     request.env['warden'] = stub(
       :authenticate! => true,
       :authenticated? => true,
-      :user => stub_user
+      :user => user
     )
   end