diff --git a/app/models/topic.rb b/app/models/topic.rb
index 0bde49f43d3..793cfef2307 100644
--- a/app/models/topic.rb
+++ b/app/models/topic.rb
@@ -134,7 +134,6 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   after_create do
     changed_to_category(category)
-    notifier.created_topic! user_id
     if archetype == Archetype.private_message
       DraftSequence.next!(user, Draft::NEW_PRIVATE_MESSAGE)
     else
diff --git a/app/models/topic_notifier.rb b/app/models/topic_notifier.rb
index 5ac1de2ed7f..f464f510640 100644
--- a/app/models/topic_notifier.rb
+++ b/app/models/topic_notifier.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ class TopicNotifier
 
   end
 
-  def created_topic!(user_id)
+  def watch_topic!(user_id)
     change_level user_id, :watching, :created_topic
   end
 
diff --git a/app/models/topic_user.rb b/app/models/topic_user.rb
index 185bede5350..69a2b88b33b 100644
--- a/app/models/topic_user.rb
+++ b/app/models/topic_user.rb
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ class TopicUser < ActiveRecord::Base
     # since there's more likely to be an existing record than not. If the update returns 0 rows affected
     # it then creates the row instead.
     def change(user_id, topic_id, attrs)
+
       # Sometimes people pass objs instead of the ids. We can handle that.
       topic_id = topic_id.id if topic_id.is_a?(::Topic)
       user_id = user_id.id if user_id.is_a?(::User)
diff --git a/lib/post_creator.rb b/lib/post_creator.rb
index 18fffcc2613..3539774d114 100644
--- a/lib/post_creator.rb
+++ b/lib/post_creator.rb
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ class PostCreator
   #                             who is the post "author." For example when copying posts to a new
   #                             topic.
   #   created_at              - Post creation time (optional)
+  #   auto_track              - Automatically track this topic if needed (default true)
   #
   #   When replying to a topic:
   #     topic_id              - topic we're replying to
@@ -264,7 +265,9 @@ class PostCreator
   end
 
   def track_topic
-    TopicUser.auto_track(@user.id, @topic.id, TopicUser.notification_reasons[:created_post])
+    unless @opts[:auto_track] == false
+      TopicUser.auto_track(@user.id, @topic.id, TopicUser.notification_reasons[:created_post])
+    end
   end
 
   def enqueue_jobs
diff --git a/lib/topic_creator.rb b/lib/topic_creator.rb
index 828db0d4351..f11e4a34156 100644
--- a/lib/topic_creator.rb
+++ b/lib/topic_creator.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@ class TopicCreator
 
   attr_accessor :errors
 
+  def self.create(user, guardian, opts)
+    self.new(user, guardian, opts).create
+  end
+
   def initialize(user, guardian, opts)
     @user = user
     @guardian = guardian
@@ -17,11 +21,19 @@ class TopicCreator
     process_private_message if @opts[:archetype] == Archetype.private_message
     save_topic
 
+    watch_topic
+
     @topic
   end
 
   private
 
+  def watch_topic
+    unless @opts[:auto_track] == false
+      @topic.notifier.watch_topic!(@topic.user_id)
+    end
+  end
+
   def setup
     topic_params = {title: @opts[:title], user_id: @user.id, last_post_user_id: @user.id}
     topic_params[:archetype] = @opts[:archetype] if @opts[:archetype].present?
diff --git a/spec/components/post_creator_spec.rb b/spec/components/post_creator_spec.rb
index 98f29bb0180..ae059fd4c3d 100644
--- a/spec/components/post_creator_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/post_creator_spec.rb
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@ describe PostCreator do
     let(:creator_with_meta_data) { PostCreator.new(user, basic_topic_params.merge(meta_data: {hello: "world"} )) }
     let(:creator_with_image_sizes) { PostCreator.new(user, basic_topic_params.merge(image_sizes: image_sizes)) }
 
+    it "can be created with auto tracking disabled" do
+      p = PostCreator.create(user, basic_topic_params.merge(auto_track: false))
+      t = TopicUser.where(user_id: p.user_id, topic_id: p.topic_id).first
+      t.notification_level.should == TopicUser.notification_levels[:regular]
+    end
+
     it "ensures the user can create the topic" do
       Guardian.any_instance.expects(:can_create?).with(Topic,nil).returns(false)
       lambda { creator.create }.should raise_error(Discourse::InvalidAccess)
diff --git a/spec/components/unread_spec.rb b/spec/components/unread_spec.rb
index e40b9d2a2bf..45c11cc7f80 100644
--- a/spec/components/unread_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/unread_spec.rb
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@ describe Unread do
 
   before do
     @topic = Fabricate(:topic, posts_count: 13, highest_post_number: 13)
+    @topic.notifier.watch_topic!(@topic.user_id)
     @topic_user = TopicUser.get(@topic, @topic.user)
     @topic_user.stubs(:notification_level).returns(TopicUser.notification_levels[:tracking])
     @topic_user.notification_level = TopicUser.notification_levels[:tracking]
     @unread = Unread.new(@topic, @topic_user)
   end
 
-
   describe 'unread_posts' do
     it 'should have 0 unread posts if the user has seen all posts' do
       @topic_user.stubs(:last_read_post_number).returns(13)
diff --git a/spec/models/topic_tracking_state_spec.rb b/spec/models/topic_tracking_state_spec.rb
index aabfda32929..cbb9daa7e4b 100644
--- a/spec/models/topic_tracking_state_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/topic_tracking_state_spec.rb
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ describe TopicTrackingState do
     report.length.should == 0
 
     new_post = post
+    post.topic.notifier.watch_topic!(post.topic.user_id)
 
     report = TopicTrackingState.report([user.id])
 
diff --git a/spec/models/topic_user_spec.rb b/spec/models/topic_user_spec.rb
index 927d45b0593..d6a412b61ff 100644
--- a/spec/models/topic_user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/topic_user_spec.rb
@@ -11,8 +11,12 @@ describe TopicUser do
     DateTime.expects(:now).at_least_once.returns(yesterday)
   end
 
-  let!(:topic) { Fabricate(:topic) }
   let!(:user) { Fabricate(:coding_horror) }
+  let!(:topic) {
+    user = Fabricate(:user)
+    guardian = Guardian.new(user)
+    TopicCreator.create(user, guardian, title: "this is my topic title")
+  }
   let(:topic_user) { TopicUser.get(topic,user) }
   let(:topic_creator_user) { TopicUser.get(topic, topic.user) }