diff --git a/app/models/key.rb b/app/models/key.rb
index f1c9e42f..0c01edcb 100644
--- a/app/models/key.rb
+++ b/app/models/key.rb
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ class Key < ActiveRecord::Base
     Key.where(identifier: identifier).count == 0
   end
 
-  def owner_name
-    user.username
+  def shell_id
+    "key-#{self.id}"
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/observers/key_observer.rb b/app/observers/key_observer.rb
index ad371d30..4146216d 100644
--- a/app/observers/key_observer.rb
+++ b/app/observers/key_observer.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ class KeyObserver < ActiveRecord::Observer
   def after_save(key)
     GitoliteWorker.perform_async(
       :add_key,
-      key.owner_name,
+      key.shell_id,
       key.key
     )
   end
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ class KeyObserver < ActiveRecord::Observer
   def after_destroy(key)
     GitoliteWorker.perform_async(
       :remove_key,
-      key.owner_name,
+      key.shell_id,
       key.key,
     )
   end
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/backend/shell.rb b/lib/gitlab/backend/shell.rb
index c596148b..50ebfc5b 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/backend/shell.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/backend/shell.rb
@@ -27,19 +27,19 @@ module Gitlab
     # Add new key to gitlab-shell
     #
     # Ex.
-    #   add_key("randx", "sha-rsa ...")
+    #   add_key("key-42", "sha-rsa ...")
     #
-    def add_key(username, key_content)
-      system("/home/git/gitlab-shell/bin/gitlab-keys add-key #{username} \"#{key_content}\"")
+    def add_key(key_id, key_content)
+      system("/home/git/gitlab-shell/bin/gitlab-keys add-key #{key_id} \"#{key_content}\"")
     end
 
     # Remove ssh key from gitlab shell
     #
     # Ex.
-    #   remove_key("sha-rsa")
+    #   remove_key("key-342", "sha-rsa ...")
     #
-    def remove_key(username, key_content)
-      system("/home/git/gitlab-shell/bin/gitlab-keys rm-key #{username} \"#{key_content}\"")
+    def remove_key(key_id, key_content)
+      system("/home/git/gitlab-shell/bin/gitlab-keys rm-key #{key_id} \"#{key_content}\"")
     end