diff --git a/options/locale_next/locale_en-US.json b/options/locale_next/locale_en-US.json
index a551db87dc..7b02c4e570 100644
--- a/options/locale_next/locale_en-US.json
+++ b/options/locale_next/locale_en-US.json
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@
     "admin.dashboard.cleanup_offline_runners": "Cleanup offline runners",
     "settings.visibility.description": "Profile visibility affects others' ability to access your non-private repositories. <a href=\"%s\" target=\"_blank\">Learn more</a>",
     "avatar.constraints_hint": "Custom avatar may not exceed %[1]s in size or be larger than %[2]dx%[3]d pixels",
+    "user.ghost.tooltip": "This user has been deleted, or cannot be matched.",
     "og.repo.summary_card.alt_description": "Summary card of repository %[1]s, described as: %[2]s",
     "meta.last_line": "Thank you for translating Forgejo! This line isn't seen by the users but it serves other purposes in the translation management. You can place a fun fact in the translation instead of translating it."
 }
diff --git a/templates/repo/release/list.tmpl b/templates/repo/release/list.tmpl
index b8f50b1f4d..2cc457ca76 100644
--- a/templates/repo/release/list.tmpl
+++ b/templates/repo/release/list.tmpl
@@ -42,9 +42,10 @@
 								{{svg (MigrationIcon $release.Repo.GetOriginalURLHostname) 20 "tw-mr-1"}}{{$release.OriginalAuthor}}
 							{{else if $release.Publisher}}
 								{{ctx.AvatarUtils.Avatar $release.Publisher 20 "tw-mr-1"}}
-								<a href="{{$release.Publisher.HomeLink}}">{{$release.Publisher.GetDisplayName}}</a>
+								{{template "shared/user/authorlink" $release.Publisher}}
 							{{else}}
-								Ghost
+								<!-- Fake the Ghost user -->
+								{{template "shared/user/authorlink" (dict "ID" -1)}}
 							{{end}}
 							</span>
 							<span class="released">
diff --git a/templates/shared/user/authorlink.tmpl b/templates/shared/user/authorlink.tmpl
index abe1ab1ce2..5be8a1612f 100644
--- a/templates/shared/user/authorlink.tmpl
+++ b/templates/shared/user/authorlink.tmpl
@@ -1 +1,7 @@
-<a class="author text black tw-font-semibold muted"{{if gt .ID 0}} href="{{.HomeLink}}"{{end}}>{{.GetDisplayName}}</a>{{if .IsBot}}<span class="ui basic label tw-p-1 tw-align-baseline">bot</span>{{end}}
+{{if eq .ID -1}}
+	<a class="author text black tw-font-semibold muted"
+		data-tooltip-content="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "user.ghost.tooltip"}}">Ghost</a>
+{{else}}
+	<a class="author text black tw-font-semibold muted"{{if gt .ID 0}} href="{{.HomeLink}}"{{end}}>{{.GetDisplayName}}</a>
+	{{if .IsBot}}<span class="ui basic label tw-p-1 tw-align-baseline">bot</span>{{end}}
+{{end}}
diff --git a/tests/integration/repo_tag_test.go b/tests/integration/repo_tag_test.go
index 9be33ec8a8..40cce02dfe 100644
--- a/tests/integration/repo_tag_test.go
+++ b/tests/integration/repo_tag_test.go
@@ -54,6 +54,30 @@ func TestTagViewWithoutRelease(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Test that there is no "Stable" link
 	htmlDoc.AssertElement(t, "h4.release-list-title > span.ui.green.label", false)
+
+	// Test that the correct user is linked
+	ownerLinkHref, _ := htmlDoc.Find("a.author").Attr("href")
+	assert.Equal(t, "/user2", ownerLinkHref)
+
+	t.Run("Ghost owner", func(t *testing.T) {
+		defer tests.PrintCurrentTest(t)()
+
+		ghost := user_model.NewGhostUser()
+		err = release.CreateNewTag(git.DefaultContext, ghost, repo, "master", "ghost-tag", "a spooky tag")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		req := NewRequestf(t, "GET", "/%s/releases/tag/ghost-tag", repo.FullName())
+		resp := MakeRequest(t, req, http.StatusOK)
+
+		htmlDoc := NewHTMLParser(t, resp.Body)
+
+		// Test that the Ghost user does not link anywhere
+		ownerLink := htmlDoc.Find("a.author")
+		_, ok := ownerLink.Attr("href")
+		assert.Equal(t, 1, ownerLink.Length())
+		assert.False(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, "Ghost", ownerLink.Text())
+	})
 }
 
 func TestCreateNewTagProtected(t *testing.T) {