diff --git a/app/models/audio_recording.rb b/app/models/audio_recording.rb
index 363f1115..07e3f63f 100644
--- a/app/models/audio_recording.rb
+++ b/app/models/audio_recording.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ class AudioRecording < ActiveRecord::Base
   belongs_to :user, :class_name => 'User', :foreign_key => :uploader_id
   has_many :analysis_items
   has_many :bookmarks
+  # this is needed to be able to set a user object, rather than the user id
+  belongs_to :uploader, class_name: 'User', foreign_key: :uploader_id
 
   # attr
   attr_accessible :bit_rate_bps, :channels, :data_length_bytes,
diff --git a/app/models/saved_search.rb b/app/models/saved_search.rb
index de18d9e8..bb70fa3c 100644
--- a/app/models/saved_search.rb
+++ b/app/models/saved_search.rb
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ class SavedSearch < ActiveRecord::Base
   # relations
   has_many :progresses
   belongs_to :user, class_name: 'User', foreign_key: :owner_id
+  # this is needed to be able to set a user object, rather than the user id
+  belongs_to :owner, class_name: 'User', foreign_key: :owner_id
 
   # attr
   attr_accessible :name,