diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 0ed469b65..03d95fc53 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
   include PersonalRepository
 
   validates :uname, :presence => true, :uniqueness => {:case_sensitive => false}, :format => { :with => /^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+$/ }, :allow_nil => false, :allow_blank => false
-  validates :ssh_key, :uniqueness => true
+  validates :ssh_key, :uniqueness => true, :allow_blank => true
   validate { errors.add(:uname, :taken) if Group.where('uname LIKE ?', uname).present? }
   #TODO: Replace this simple cross-table uniq validation by more progressive analog
   validate lambda {