diff --git a/humbug/settings.py b/humbug/settings.py
index 329f31ae6b..0b9a0879bc 100644
--- a/humbug/settings.py
+++ b/humbug/settings.py
@@ -97,7 +97,9 @@ STATICFILES_FINDERS = (
 # Make this unique, and don't share it with anybody.
 SECRET_KEY = 'xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
 
-MD5_SALT = 'xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
+# A fixed salt used for hashing in certain places, e.g. email-based
+# username generation.
+HASH_SALT = 'xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
 
 # List of callables that know how to import templates from various sources.
 TEMPLATE_LOADERS = (
diff --git a/zephyr/models.py b/zephyr/models.py
index bc1c362081..9b36a75939 100644
--- a/zephyr/models.py
+++ b/zephyr/models.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ class UserProfile(models.Model):
             Subscription(userprofile=profile, recipient=recipient).save()
 
 def create_user(email, password, realm, full_name, short_name):
-    username = hashlib.md5(settings.MD5_SALT + email).hexdigest()
+    username = hashlib.md5(settings.HASH_SALT + email).hexdigest()
     user = User.objects.create_user(username=username, password=password,
                                     email=email)
     user.save()
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ class Zephyr(models.Model):
                 'instance'         : self.instance,
                 'content'          : self.content,
                 'timestamp'        : calendar.timegm(self.pub_date.timetuple()),
-                'gravatar_hash'    : hashlib.md5(settings.MD5_SALT + self.sender.user.email).hexdigest(),
+                'gravatar_hash'    : hashlib.md5(settings.HASH_SALT + self.sender.user.email).hexdigest(),
                 }
 
 class UserMessage(models.Model):
diff --git a/zephyr/views.py b/zephyr/views.py
index f5c8f0c217..e1939431de 100644
--- a/zephyr/views.py
+++ b/zephyr/views.py
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ def home(request):
     return render_to_response('zephyr/index.html',
                               {'zephyr_array' : zephyr_json,
                                'user_profile': user_profile,
-                               'email_hash'  : hashlib.md5(settings.MD5_SALT + user_profile.user.email).hexdigest(),
+                               'email_hash'  : hashlib.md5(settings.HASH_SALT + user_profile.user.email).hexdigest(),
                                'people'      : simplejson.dumps(people),
                                'classes'     : simplejson.dumps(classes),
                                'instances'   : simplejson.dumps(instances)},