diff --git a/lib/api/api-router.js b/lib/api/api-router.js
index ad89d0a3..bc01899c 100644
--- a/lib/api/api-router.js
+++ b/lib/api/api-router.js
@@ -200,6 +200,7 @@ module.exports = class ApiRouter {
 
         this.mapRouter = new MapRouter({ collaborators });
         this.templateRouter = new TemplateRouter({ collaborators });
+        this.metadataBackend = metadataBackend;
     }
 
     route (app, routes) {
@@ -224,7 +225,7 @@ module.exports = class ApiRouter {
             }));
             apiRouter.use(lzmaMiddleware());
             apiRouter.use(cors());
-            apiRouter.use(user());
+            apiRouter.use(user(this.metadataBackend));
 
             this.templateRouter.route(apiRouter, route.template);
             this.mapRouter.route(apiRouter, route.map);
diff --git a/lib/api/middlewares/user.js b/lib/api/middlewares/user.js
index 7ce3a40a..cd3fc85c 100644
--- a/lib/api/middlewares/user.js
+++ b/lib/api/middlewares/user.js
@@ -2,12 +2,30 @@
 
 const CdbRequest = require('../../models/cdb-request');
 
-module.exports = function user () {
+module.exports = function user (metadataBackend) {
     const cdbRequest = new CdbRequest();
 
     return function userMiddleware (req, res, next) {
-        res.locals.user = cdbRequest.userByReq(req);
+        res.locals.user = getUserNameFromRequest(req, cdbRequest);
 
-        next();
+        getUserId(metadataBackend, res.locals.user, function (userId) {
+            if (userId) {
+                res.locals.userId = userId;
+            }
+            return next();
+        });
     };
 };
+
+function getUserNameFromRequest (req, cdbRequest) {
+    return cdbRequest.userByReq(req);
+}
+
+function getUserId (metadataBackend, userName, callback) {
+    metadataBackend.getUserId(userName, function (err, userId) {
+        if (err) {
+            return callback();
+        }
+        return callback(userId);
+    });
+}