diff --git a/conf/default.conf.php b/conf/default.conf.php
index 4c44ce01cd..9c973f6f13 100644
--- a/conf/default.conf.php
+++ b/conf/default.conf.php
@@ -268,6 +268,17 @@ return array(
   // still **COMPLETELY INSECURE**.
   'metamta.insecure-auth-with-reply-to' => false,
 
+  // If you enable 'metamta.maniphest.public-create-email' and create an
+  // email address like "bugs@phabricator.example.com", it will default to
+  // rejecting mail which doesn't come from a known user. However, you might
+  // want to let anyone send email to this address; to do so, set a default
+  // author here (a Phabricator username). A typical use of this might be to
+  // create a "System Agent" user called "bugs" and use that name here. If you
+  // specify a valid username, mail will always be accepted and used to create
+  // a task, even if the sender is not a system user. The original email
+  // address will be stored in an 'From Email' field on the task.
+  'metamta.maniphest.default-public-author' => null,
+
 
 // -- Auth ------------------------------------------------------------------ //
 
diff --git a/resources/sql/patches/077.originalemail.sql b/resources/sql/patches/077.originalemail.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0ce5d9f680
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/sql/patches/077.originalemail.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+ALTER TABLE phabricator_maniphest.maniphest_task
+  ADD originalEmailSource VARCHAR(255);
diff --git a/src/applications/maniphest/controller/taskdetail/ManiphestTaskDetailController.php b/src/applications/maniphest/controller/taskdetail/ManiphestTaskDetailController.php
index a0a1ac1633..96ec82b2ea 100644
--- a/src/applications/maniphest/controller/taskdetail/ManiphestTaskDetailController.php
+++ b/src/applications/maniphest/controller/taskdetail/ManiphestTaskDetailController.php
@@ -115,6 +115,17 @@ class ManiphestTaskDetailController extends ManiphestController {
 
     $dict['Author'] = $handles[$task->getAuthorPHID()]->renderLink();
 
+    $source = $task->getOriginalEmailSource();
+    if ($source) {
+      $subject = '[T'.$task->getID().'] '.$task->getTitle();
+      $dict['From Email'] = phutil_render_tag(
+        'a',
+        array(
+          'href' => 'mailto:'.$source.'?subject='.$subject
+        ),
+        phutil_escape_html($source));
+    }
+
     $projects = $task->getProjectPHIDs();
     if ($projects) {
       $project_links = array();
diff --git a/src/applications/maniphest/storage/task/ManiphestTask.php b/src/applications/maniphest/storage/task/ManiphestTask.php
index df5ebdfdf3..0064116177 100644
--- a/src/applications/maniphest/storage/task/ManiphestTask.php
+++ b/src/applications/maniphest/storage/task/ManiphestTask.php
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class ManiphestTask extends ManiphestDAO {
 
   protected $title;
   protected $description;
-
+  protected $originalEmailSource;
   protected $mailKey;
 
   protected $attached = array();
diff --git a/src/applications/metamta/storage/receivedmail/PhabricatorMetaMTAReceivedMail.php b/src/applications/metamta/storage/receivedmail/PhabricatorMetaMTAReceivedMail.php
index 10ebdf5fd4..6200424577 100644
--- a/src/applications/metamta/storage/receivedmail/PhabricatorMetaMTAReceivedMail.php
+++ b/src/applications/metamta/storage/receivedmail/PhabricatorMetaMTAReceivedMail.php
@@ -64,16 +64,34 @@ class PhabricatorMetaMTAReceivedMail extends PhabricatorMetaMTADAO {
       'metamta.maniphest.public-create-email');
 
     if ($create_task && $to == $create_task) {
+      $receiver = new ManiphestTask();
+
       $user = $this->lookupPublicUser();
-      if (!$user) {
-        // TODO: We should probably bounce these since from the user's
-        // perspective their email vanishes into a black hole.
-        return $this->setMessage("Invalid public user '{$from}'.")->save();
+      if ($user) {
+        $this->setAuthorPHID($user->getPHID());
+      } else {
+        $default_author = PhabricatorEnv::getEnvConfig(
+          'metamta.manipest.default-public-author');
+
+        if ($default_author) {
+          $user = id(new PhabricatorUser())->loadOneWhere(
+            'username = %s',
+            $default_author);
+          if ($user) {
+            $receiver->setOriginalEmailSource($from);
+          } else {
+            throw new Exception(
+              "Phabricator is misconfigured, the configuration key ".
+              "'metamta.manipest.default-public-author' is set to user ".
+              "'{$default_author}' but that user does not exist.");
+          }
+        } else {
+          // TODO: We should probably bounce these since from the user's
+          // perspective their email vanishes into a black hole.
+          return $this->setMessage("Invalid public user '{$from}'.")->save();
+        }
       }
 
-      $this->setAuthorPHID($user->getPHID());
-
-      $receiver = new ManiphestTask();
       $receiver->setAuthorPHID($user->getPHID());
       $receiver->setPriority(ManiphestTaskPriority::PRIORITY_TRIAGE);