diff --git a/src/email.rs b/src/email.rs
index 0962b60f95..e32ef01243 100644
--- a/src/email.rs
+++ b/src/email.rs
@@ -86,6 +86,23 @@ https://crates.io/confirm/{}",
     send_email(email, subject, &body)
 }
 
+/// Attempts to send a crate owner invitation email. Swallows all errors.
+///
+/// Whether or not the email is sent, the invitation entry will be created in
+/// the database and the user will see the invitation when they visit
+/// https://crates.io/me/pending-invites/.
+pub fn send_owner_invite_email(email: &str, user_name: &str, crate_name: &str) {
+    let subject = "Crate ownership invitation";
+    let body = format!(
+        "{} has invited you to become an owner of the crate {}!\n
+Please visit https://crates.io/me/pending-invites to accept or reject
+this invitation.",
+        user_name, crate_name
+    );
+
+    let _ = send_email(email, subject, &body);
+}
+
 fn send_email(recipient: &str, subject: &str, body: &str) -> CargoResult<()> {
     let mailgun_config = init_config_vars();
     let email = build_email(recipient, subject, body, &mailgun_config)?;
diff --git a/src/models/krate.rs b/src/models/krate.rs
index ad56203dc5..e19cc21973 100644
--- a/src/models/krate.rs
+++ b/src/models/krate.rs
@@ -7,11 +7,12 @@ use indexmap::IndexMap;
 use url::Url;
 
 use crate::app::App;
+use crate::email;
 use crate::util::{human, CargoResult};
 
 use crate::models::{
-    Badge, Category, CrateOwner, Keyword, NewCrateOwnerInvitation, Owner, OwnerKind,
-    ReverseDependency, User, Version,
+    Badge, Category, CrateOwner, CrateOwnerInvitation, Keyword, NewCrateOwnerInvitation, Owner,
+    OwnerKind, ReverseDependency, User, Version,
 };
 use crate::views::{EncodableCrate, EncodableCrateLinks};
 
@@ -426,19 +427,30 @@ impl Crate {
 
         match owner {
             // Users are invited and must accept before being added
-            owner @ Owner::User(_) => {
-                insert_into(crate_owner_invitations::table)
+            Owner::User(user) => {
+                let maybe_inserted = insert_into(crate_owner_invitations::table)
                     .values(&NewCrateOwnerInvitation {
-                        invited_user_id: owner.id(),
+                        invited_user_id: user.id,
                         invited_by_user_id: req_user.id,
                         crate_id: self.id,
                     })
                     .on_conflict_do_nothing()
-                    .execute(conn)?;
+                    .get_result::<CrateOwnerInvitation>(conn)
+                    .optional()?;
+
+                if maybe_inserted.is_some() {
+                    if let Ok(Some(email)) = user.verified_email(&conn) {
+                        email::send_owner_invite_email(
+                            &email.as_str(),
+                            &req_user.gh_login.as_str(),
+                            &self.name.as_str(),
+                        );
+                    }
+                }
+
                 Ok(format!(
                     "user {} has been invited to be an owner of crate {}",
-                    owner.login(),
-                    self.name
+                    user.gh_login, self.name
                 ))
             }
             // Teams are added as owners immediately