diff --git a/lib/usermanager.js b/lib/usermanager.js
index e9d7936886..82da646322 100644
--- a/lib/usermanager.js
+++ b/lib/usermanager.js
@@ -204,7 +204,6 @@ exports = module.exports = {
     if (!user.email || 'string' !== typeof user.email) {
       return callback(new UserEmailError('user email is required!'));
     }
-
     database.getDatabase(function(err, db){
       if (err) {
         return callback(err);
@@ -220,6 +219,8 @@ exports = module.exports = {
           // user exists
           return callback(new DuplicateUserError());
         } else {
+          // ensure email is lower case
+          user.email = user.email.toLowerCase();
           db.create('user', user, function (error, result) {
             // Wrap the callback since we might want to alter the result
             if (error) {
@@ -261,7 +262,9 @@ exports = module.exports = {
       callback = options;
       options = {};
     }
-
+    if(search.email) {
+      search.email = search.email.toLowerCase();
+    }
     database.getDatabase(function(err,db) {
       db.retrieve('user', search, options, function (error, results) {
         if (error) {
@@ -300,6 +303,9 @@ exports = module.exports = {
         return callback(new Error('No matching user record found'));
       }
       database.getDatabase(function(err, db) {
+        if(update.email) {
+          updateEmail = update.email.toLowerCase();
+        }
         if (update.email !== self.getCurrentUser().email) {
           // email updated, verify the new email does not already exist
           db.retrieve('user', { email: update.email }, function (error, results) {