diff --git a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
index d6d869ab7..b7524ea6e 100644
--- a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
@@ -118,7 +118,10 @@ module ApplicationHelper
       match = el.match(sa_user)
       user = User.find_by_id(match[2].base62_decode)
       organization ||= current_organization
-      if user && organization
+
+      if user &&
+         organization &&
+         UserOrganization.user_in_organization(user, organization).any?
         user_org = user
                    .user_organizations
                    .where('user_organizations.organization_id = ?',
diff --git a/app/models/user_organization.rb b/app/models/user_organization.rb
index 40c38d4a4..c18b9fae4 100644
--- a/app/models/user_organization.rb
+++ b/app/models/user_organization.rb
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ class UserOrganization < ActiveRecord::Base
     end
   end
 
+  # returns user_organizations where the user is in org
+  def self.user_in_organization(user, organization)
+    where(user: user, organization: organization)
+  end
+
   def destroy(new_owner)
     # If any project of the organization has the sole owner and that
     # owner is the user to be removed from the organization, then we must