diff --git a/src/lib/components/theme/ThemeEditorWindow.svelte b/src/lib/components/theme/ThemeEditorWindow.svelte
index cafacab..edde8ed 100644
--- a/src/lib/components/theme/ThemeEditorWindow.svelte
+++ b/src/lib/components/theme/ThemeEditorWindow.svelte
@@ -3343,7 +3343,8 @@
   async function openPublishDialog() {
     if (exporting || saving || publishing) return;
 
-    if (!$currentUser) {
+    const user = $currentUser;
+    if (!user) {
       sileo.error({
         title: 'Authentication Required',
         description:
@@ -3361,8 +3362,12 @@
       return;
     }
 
-    if (dirty) {
-      await saveTheme({ notify: false });
+    const authorIdChanged = definition.authorId !== user.id;
+    if (authorIdChanged) definition.authorId = user.id;
+
+    if (dirty || authorIdChanged) {
+      const saved = await saveTheme({ notify: false });
+      if (!saved) return;
     }
 
     publishThemeId = definition.workshopId ?? '';
diff --git a/src/lib/themeV2.ts b/src/lib/themeV2.ts
index 504c1eb..497764b 100644
--- a/src/lib/themeV2.ts
+++ b/src/lib/themeV2.ts
@@ -646,6 +646,8 @@ export type ThemeV2Definition = {
   version: string;
   apiVersion: '2.0';
   author: string;
+  /** EZPPFarm user ID of the publisher, written when the theme is published. */
+  authorId?: number;
   description?: string;
   /** Workshop discovery tags for this theme. */
   tags?: string[];
@@ -755,6 +757,11 @@ const normalizeWorkshopId = (raw: unknown): string | undefined => {
   return WORKSHOP_ID_PATTERN.test(id) ? id : undefined;
 };
 
+const normalizeAuthorId = (raw: unknown): number | undefined => {
+  if (typeof raw !== 'number' || !Number.isSafeInteger(raw) || raw <= 0) return undefined;
+  return raw;
+};
+
 const clampInteger = (value: unknown, fallback: number, min: number, max: number) =>
   Math.round(clamp(value, fallback, min, max));
 
@@ -1913,6 +1920,7 @@ export const normalizeThemeV2 = (raw: Partial<ThemeV2Definition>): ThemeV2Defini
     version: text(raw.version, '1.0.0'),
     apiVersion: '2.0',
     author: text(raw.author, 'Unknown'),
+    authorId: normalizeAuthorId(raw.authorId),
     description: text(raw.description),
     tags: normalizeThemeTags(raw.tags),
     workshopId: normalizeWorkshopId(raw.workshopId),
diff --git a/src/lib/themes.ts b/src/lib/themes.ts
index 4fb7d0e..0570227 100644
--- a/src/lib/themes.ts
+++ b/src/lib/themes.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ export type Theme = {
   version: string;
   apiVersion: string;
   author: string;
+  /** EZPPFarm user ID stored in the manifest when the theme is published. */
+  authorId?: number;
   description: string;
   nsfw: boolean;
   scriptUrl: string;
@@ -44,6 +46,7 @@ export type ThemeInfo = {
   apiVersion?: string;
   workshopId?: string;
   author?: string;
+  authorId?: number;
   description?: string;
   nsfw?: boolean;
   entry?: string;
@@ -173,6 +176,12 @@ const themeFromFolder = async (
       version: parsed.version ?? '1.0.0',
       apiVersion,
       author: parsed.author ?? 'Unknown',
+      authorId:
+        typeof parsed.authorId === 'number' &&
+        Number.isSafeInteger(parsed.authorId) &&
+        parsed.authorId > 0
+          ? parsed.authorId
+          : undefined,
       description: parsed.description ?? '',
       nsfw: parsed.nsfw === true,
       scriptUrl,
@@ -523,6 +532,7 @@ export const reloadThemes = async () => {
           preview: theme.preview,
           version: theme.version,
           author: theme.author,
+          authorId: theme.authorId,
           apiVersion: theme.apiVersion,
           description: theme.description,
           nsfw: theme.nsfw,
diff --git a/src/screens/Launch.svelte b/src/screens/Launch.svelte
index e866717..4ae5d33 100644
--- a/src/screens/Launch.svelte
+++ b/src/screens/Launch.svelte
@@ -422,6 +422,14 @@
     return ownedWorkshopThemeNames.includes(theme.name.trim().toLowerCase());
   };
 
+  const themeAuthorAvatarUrl = (theme: Theme) => {
+    if (theme.authorId && theme.authorId > 0) {
+      return `https://a.ez-pp.farm/${theme.authorId}`;
+    }
+    const author = theme.author.trim();
+    return author ? `https://a.ez-pp.farm/${encodeURIComponent(author)}` : undefined;
+  };
+
   onMount(() => {
     let loadedUserId: number | undefined;
     return currentUser.subscribe((user) => {
@@ -4073,9 +4081,7 @@
                                     class="size-5 shrink-0 border border-white/20 bg-theme-800"
                                   >
                                     <Avatar.Image
-                                      src={theme.author.trim()
-                                        ? `https://a.ez-pp.farm/${encodeURIComponent(theme.author.trim())}`
-                                        : undefined}
+                                      src={themeAuthorAvatarUrl(theme)}
                                       alt={theme.author || 'Unknown author'}
                                       class="object-cover"
                                     />