diff --git a/r2/r2/controllers/listingcontroller.py b/r2/r2/controllers/listingcontroller.py
index a1a63c0cb..2129eccca 100755
--- a/r2/r2/controllers/listingcontroller.py
+++ b/r2/r2/controllers/listingcontroller.py
@@ -856,7 +856,9 @@ class MessageController(ListingController):
         elif self.where == 'moderator' and self.subwhere == 'unread':
             if c.default_sr:
                 srids = Subreddit.reverse_moderator_ids(c.user)
-                srs = Subreddit._byID(srids, data = False, return_dict = False)
+                srs = [sr for sr in Subreddit._byID(srids, data=False,
+                                                    return_dict=False)
+                       if sr.is_moderator_with_perms(c.user, 'mail')]
                 q = queries.get_unread_subreddit_messages_multi(srs)
             else:
                 q = queries.get_unread_subreddit_messages(c.site)
@@ -884,7 +886,9 @@ class MessageController(ListingController):
                      uri='/message/{where}',
                      uri_variants=['/message/inbox', '/message/unread', '/message/sent'])
     def GET_listing(self, where, mark, message, subwhere = None, **env):
-        if not (c.default_sr or c.site.is_moderator(c.user) or c.user_is_admin):
+        if not (c.default_sr
+                or c.site.is_moderator_with_perms(c.user, 'mail')
+                or c.user_is_admin):
             abort(403, "forbidden")
         if isinstance(c.site, MultiReddit):
             if not (c.user_is_admin or c.site.is_moderator(c.user)):
diff --git a/r2/r2/lib/comment_tree.py b/r2/r2/lib/comment_tree.py
index 2ee9cc56c..5b40a8a34 100755
--- a/r2/r2/lib/comment_tree.py
+++ b/r2/r2/lib/comment_tree.py
@@ -357,13 +357,16 @@ def subreddit_messages(sr, update = False):
 def moderator_messages(sr_ids):
     from r2.models import Subreddit
 
+    srs = Subreddit._byID(sr_ids)
+    sr_ids = [sr_id for sr_id, sr in srs.iteritems()
+              if sr.is_moderator_with_perms(c.user, 'mail')]
+
     def multi_load_tree(sr_ids):
-        srs = Subreddit._byID(sr_ids, return_dict = False)
         res = {}
-        for sr in srs:
-            trees = subreddit_messages_nocache(sr)
+        for sr_id in sr_ids:
+            trees = subreddit_messages_nocache(srs[sr_id])
             if trees:
-                res[sr._id] = trees
+                res[sr_id] = trees
         return res
 
     res = sgm(g.permacache, sr_ids, miss_fn = multi_load_tree,
diff --git a/r2/r2/lib/pages/pages.py b/r2/r2/lib/pages/pages.py
index dd0e4ee97..f14e90167 100755
--- a/r2/r2/lib/pages/pages.py
+++ b/r2/r2/lib/pages/pages.py
@@ -252,9 +252,10 @@ class Reddit(Templated):
                                      css_class="reddit-edit",
                                      dest="edit"))
 
-        buttons.append(NamedButton("modmail",
-                                   dest="message/inbox",
-                                   css_class="moderator-mail"))
+        if c.site.is_moderator_with_perms(c.user, 'mail'):
+            buttons.append(NamedButton("modmail",
+                                    dest="message/inbox",
+                                    css_class="moderator-mail"))
 
         if is_single_subreddit:
             if c.site.is_moderator_with_perms(c.user, 'access'):
diff --git a/r2/r2/lib/permissions.py b/r2/r2/lib/permissions.py
index c0e6f1b87..f451091b5 100644
--- a/r2/r2/lib/permissions.py
+++ b/r2/r2/lib/permissions.py
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ class ModeratorPermissionSet(PermissionSet):
             title=_('flair'),
             description=_('manage user flair, link flair, and flair templates'),
         ),
+        mail=dict(
+            title=_('mail'),
+            description=_('read and reply to moderator mail'),
+        ),
         posts=dict(
             title=_('posts'),
             description=_(
diff --git a/r2/r2/models/_builder.pyx b/r2/r2/models/_builder.pyx
index 8c01b863f..59eb745fd 100644
--- a/r2/r2/models/_builder.pyx
+++ b/r2/r2/models/_builder.pyx
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ class _MessageBuilder(Builder):
 
         # m is wrapped at this time, so it should have an SR
         subreddit = getattr(m, "subreddit", None)
-        if subreddit and subreddit.is_moderator(c.user):
+        if subreddit and subreddit.is_moderator_with_perms(c.user, 'mail'):
             return True
 
         return False
diff --git a/r2/r2/models/builder.py b/r2/r2/models/builder.py
index 06369e01c..a3a583cd2 100755
--- a/r2/r2/models/builder.py
+++ b/r2/r2/models/builder.py
@@ -646,6 +646,7 @@ class TopCommentBuilder(CommentBuilder):
     def get_items(self, num = 10):
         final = CommentBuilder.get_items(self, num = num)
         return [ cm for cm in final if not cm.deleted ]
+
 class SrMessageBuilder(MessageBuilder):
     def __init__(self, sr, **kw):
         self.sr = sr
diff --git a/r2/r2/models/link.py b/r2/r2/models/link.py
index 5e89f353a..844572563 100755
--- a/r2/r2/models/link.py
+++ b/r2/r2/models/link.py
@@ -1258,7 +1258,7 @@ class Message(Thing, Printable):
                 return True
             elif self.sr_id:
                 sr = Subreddit._byID(self.sr_id)
-                is_moderator = sr.is_moderator(c.user)
+                is_moderator = sr.is_moderator_with_perms(c.user, 'mail')
                 # moderators can view messages on subreddits they moderate
                 if is_moderator:
                     return True
@@ -1710,8 +1710,10 @@ class ModeratorInbox(Relation(Subreddit, Message)):
         if not sr._loaded:
             sr._load()
 
-        moderators = Account._byID(sr.moderator_ids(), data=True,
-                                   return_dict=False)
+        mod_perms = sr.moderators_with_perms()
+        mod_ids = set(mod_id for mod_id, perms in mod_perms.iteritems()
+                      if perms.get('mail', False))
+        moderators = Account._byID(mod_ids, data=True, return_dict=False)
         for m in moderators:
             if obj.author_id != m._id and not getattr(m, 'modmsgtime', None):
                 m.modmsgtime = obj._date