diff --git a/src/applications/audit/editor/PhabricatorAuditEditor.php b/src/applications/audit/editor/PhabricatorAuditEditor.php
--- a/src/applications/audit/editor/PhabricatorAuditEditor.php
+++ b/src/applications/audit/editor/PhabricatorAuditEditor.php
@@ -522,6 +522,14 @@
   protected function shouldSendMail(
     PhabricatorLiskDAO $object,
     array $xactions) {
+
+    // not every code path loads the repository so tread carefully
+    if ($object->getRepository($assert_attached = false)) {
+      $repository = $object->getRepository();
+      if ($repository->isImporting()) {
+        return false;
+      }
+    }
     return $this->isCommitMostlyImported($object);
   }
 
@@ -803,7 +811,7 @@
   protected function shouldPublishFeedStory(
     PhabricatorLiskDAO $object,
     array $xactions) {
-    return $this->isCommitMostlyImported($object);
+    return $this->shouldSendMail($object, $xactions);
   }
 
   protected function shouldApplyHeraldRules(
diff --git a/src/applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepositoryCommit.php b/src/applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepositoryCommit.php
--- a/src/applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepositoryCommit.php
+++ b/src/applications/repository/storage/PhabricatorRepositoryCommit.php
@@ -40,8 +40,11 @@
     return $this;
   }
 
-  public function getRepository() {
-    return $this->assertAttached($this->repository);
+  public function getRepository($assert_attached = true) {
+    if ($assert_attached) {
+      return $this->assertAttached($this->repository);
+    }
+    return $this->repository;
   }
 
   public function isPartiallyImported($mask) {
diff --git a/src/applications/repository/worker/commitmessageparser/PhabricatorRepositoryCommitMessageParserWorker.php b/src/applications/repository/worker/commitmessageparser/PhabricatorRepositoryCommitMessageParserWorker.php
--- a/src/applications/repository/worker/commitmessageparser/PhabricatorRepositoryCommitMessageParserWorker.php
+++ b/src/applications/repository/worker/commitmessageparser/PhabricatorRepositoryCommitMessageParserWorker.php
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@
       $data = new PhabricatorRepositoryCommitData();
     }
     $data->setCommitID($commit->getID());
-    $data->setAuthorName((string)$author);
+    $data->setAuthorName(id(new PhutilUTF8StringTruncator())
+      ->setMaximumCodepoints(255)
+      ->truncateString((string)$author));
 
     $data->setCommitDetail('authorName', $ref->getAuthorName());
     $data->setCommitDetail('authorEmail', $ref->getAuthorEmail());