diff --git a/app/controllers/profiles_controller.rb b/app/controllers/profiles_controller.rb
index 1d1efb16..051a6664 100644
--- a/app/controllers/profiles_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/profiles_controller.rb
@@ -51,7 +51,9 @@ class ProfilesController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   def update_username
-    @user.update_attributes(username: params[:user][:username])
+    if @user.can_change_username?
+      @user.update_attributes(username: params[:user][:username])
+    end
 
     respond_to do |format|
       format.js
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index b39ee485..a42671ea 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -234,6 +234,10 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
     keys.count == 0
   end
 
+  def can_change_username?
+    Gitlab.config.gitlab.username_changing_enabled
+  end
+
   def can_create_project?
     projects_limit > owned_projects.count
   end
diff --git a/app/views/profiles/account.html.haml b/app/views/profiles/account.html.haml
index 5465d1f9..5b6c298d 100644
--- a/app/views/profiles/account.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/profiles/account.html.haml
@@ -53,29 +53,30 @@
 
 
 
-%fieldset.update-username
-  %legend
-    Username
-    %small.cred.pull-right
-      Changing your username can have unintended side effects!
-  = form_for @user, url: update_username_profile_path,  method: :put, remote: true do |f|
-    .padded
-      = f.label :username
-      .input
-        = f.text_field :username, required: true
-        &nbsp;
-        %span.loading-gif.hide= image_tag "ajax_loader.gif"
-        %span.update-success.cgreen.hide
-          %i.icon-ok
-          Saved
-        %span.update-failed.cred.hide
-          %i.icon-remove
-          Failed
-        %ul.cred
-          %li It will change web url for personal projects.
-          %li It will change the git path to repositories for personal projects.
-      .input
-        = f.submit 'Save username', class: "btn btn-save"
+- if current_user.can_change_username?
+  %fieldset.update-username
+    %legend
+      Username
+      %small.cred.pull-right
+        Changing your username can have unintended side effects!
+    = form_for @user, url: update_username_profile_path,  method: :put, remote: true do |f|
+      .padded
+        = f.label :username
+        .input
+          = f.text_field :username, required: true
+          &nbsp;
+          %span.loading-gif.hide= image_tag "ajax_loader.gif"
+          %span.update-success.cgreen.hide
+            %i.icon-ok
+            Saved
+          %span.update-failed.cred.hide
+            %i.icon-remove
+            Failed
+          %ul.cred
+            %li It will change web url for personal projects.
+            %li It will change the git path to repositories for personal projects.
+        .input
+          = f.submit 'Save username', class: "btn btn-save"
 
 - if Gitlab.config.gitlab.signup_enabled
   %fieldset.remove-account
@@ -83,4 +84,4 @@
       Remove account
       %small.cred.pull-right
         Before removing the account you must remove all projects!
-    = link_to 'Delete account', user_registration_path, confirm: "REMOVE #{current_user.name}? Are you sure?", method: :delete, class: "btn btn-remove delete-key btn-small pull-right"
\ No newline at end of file
+    = link_to 'Delete account', user_registration_path, confirm: "REMOVE #{current_user.name}? Are you sure?", method: :delete, class: "btn btn-remove delete-key btn-small pull-right"
diff --git a/config/gitlab.yml.example b/config/gitlab.yml.example
index 44154456..62761c80 100644
--- a/config/gitlab.yml.example
+++ b/config/gitlab.yml.example
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ production: &base
     ## Project settings
     default_projects_limit: 10
     # signup_enabled: true          # default: false - Account passwords are not sent via the email if signup is enabled.
+    # username_changing_enabled: false # default: true - User can change her username/namespace
 
   ## Gravatar
   gravatar:
diff --git a/config/initializers/1_settings.rb b/config/initializers/1_settings.rb
index b3fba99e..f7d18e67 100644
--- a/config/initializers/1_settings.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/1_settings.rb
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ Settings.gitlab['support_email']  ||= Settings.gitlab.email_from
 Settings.gitlab['url']        ||= Settings.send(:build_gitlab_url)
 Settings.gitlab['user']       ||= 'git'
 Settings.gitlab['signup_enabled'] ||= false
+Settings.gitlab['username_changing_enabled'] = true if Settings.gitlab['username_changing_enabled'].nil?
 
 #
 # Gravatar