diff --git a/daemon.py b/daemon.py
index 98f8d7042..eed0a8625 100644
--- a/daemon.py
+++ b/daemon.py
@@ -6904,12 +6904,12 @@ class PubServer(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
                         if fields.get('memorialAccounts'):
                             if fields['memorialAccounts'] != \
                                curr_memorial:
-                                set_memorials(base_dir,
+                                set_memorials(base_dir, self.server.domain,
                                               fields['memorialAccounts'])
                         else:
                             if curr_memorial:
                                 set_memorials(base_dir,
-                                              'memorialAccounts', '')
+                                              self.server.domain, '')
 
                     # change email address
                     current_email_address = get_email_address(actor_json)
diff --git a/utils.py b/utils.py
index a5016b52c..ecf28c9fc 100644
--- a/utils.py
+++ b/utils.py
@@ -757,9 +757,20 @@ def get_memorials(base_dir: str) -> str:
     return memorial_str
 
 
-def set_memorials(base_dir: str, memorial_str) -> None:
+def set_memorials(base_dir: str, domain: str, memorial_str) -> None:
     """Sets the nicknames for memorial accounts
     """
+    # check that the accounts exist
+    memorial_list = memorial_str.split('\n')
+    new_memorial_str = ''
+    for memorial_item in memorial_list:
+        memorial_nick = memorial_item.strip()
+        check_dir = acct_dir(base_dir, memorial_nick, domain)
+        if os.path.isdir(check_dir):
+            new_memorial_str += memorial_nick + '\n'
+    memorial_str = new_memorial_str
+
+    # save the accounts
     memorial_file = base_dir + '/accounts/memorial'
     try:
         with open(memorial_file, 'w+', encoding='utf-8') as fp_memorial: