diff --git a/Data/BotDatabaseContext.cs b/Data/BotDatabaseContext.cs
index 319594d..41482de 100644
--- a/Data/BotDatabaseContext.cs
+++ b/Data/BotDatabaseContext.cs
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ public class BotDatabaseContext : DbContext {
         modelBuilder.Entity<CachedGuildUser>(e => {
             e.HasKey(p => new { p.GuildId, p.UserId });
             e.Property(p => p.FirstSeenTime).HasDefaultValueSql("now()");
+            e.HasOne(entry => entry.User)
+                .WithMany(u => u.Guilds)
+                .HasForeignKey(entry => entry.UserId);
+            e.Navigation(entry => entry.User).AutoInclude();
         });
         modelBuilder.Entity<CachedGuildMessage>(e => e.Property(p => p.CreatedAt).HasDefaultValueSql("now()"));
         modelBuilder.HasPostgresEnum<ModLogType>();
@@ -62,6 +66,14 @@ public class BotDatabaseContext : DbContext {
             e.HasOne(entry => entry.User)
                 .WithMany(gu => gu.Logs)
                 .HasForeignKey(entry => new { entry.GuildId, entry.UserId });
+            e.Navigation(entry => entry.User).AutoInclude();
+        });
+        modelBuilder.Entity<CachedGuildMessage>(e => {
+            e.HasOne(entry => entry.Author)
+                .WithMany(gu => gu.Messages)
+                .HasForeignKey(cgm => new { cgm.GuildId, cgm.AuthorId })
+                .HasPrincipalKey(cgu => new { cgu.GuildId, cgu.UserId });
+            e.Navigation(entry => entry.Author).AutoInclude();
         });
     }
 }
diff --git a/Data/CachedGuildMessage.cs b/Data/CachedGuildMessage.cs
index 9734d5d..283c7c2 100644
--- a/Data/CachedGuildMessage.cs
+++ b/Data/CachedGuildMessage.cs
@@ -53,11 +53,8 @@ public class CachedGuildMessage {
     /// </summary>
     public string? Content { get; set; } = null!;
 
-    /// <inheritdoc cref="CachedGuildUser.User" />
-    [ForeignKey(nameof(AuthorId))]
-    [InverseProperty(nameof(CachedUser.GuildMessages))]
-    public CachedUser Author { get; set; } = null!;
-    // TODO set up composite foreign key. will require rewriting some parts in modules...
+    /// <inheritdoc cref="ModLogEntry.User"/>
+    public CachedGuildUser Author { get; set; } = null!;
 
     // Used by MessageCachingSubservice
     internal static CachedGuildMessage? Clone(CachedGuildMessage? original) {
diff --git a/Data/CachedGuildUser.cs b/Data/CachedGuildUser.cs
index 1995702..6b50001 100644
--- a/Data/CachedGuildUser.cs
+++ b/Data/CachedGuildUser.cs
@@ -28,14 +28,17 @@ public class CachedGuildUser {
     public string? Nickname { get; set; }
 
     /// <summary>
-    /// If included in the query, references the associated <seealso cref="CachedUser"/> for this entry.
+    /// Gets the associated <seealso cref="CachedUser"/> for this entry. This entity is auto-included.
     /// </summary>
-    [ForeignKey(nameof(UserId))]
-    [InverseProperty(nameof(CachedUser.Guilds))]
     public CachedUser User { get; set; } = null!;
 
     /// <summary>
     /// If included in the query, references all <seealso cref="ModLogEntry"/> items associated with this entry.
     /// </summary>
     public ICollection<ModLogEntry> Logs { get; set; } = null!;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// If included in the query, references all <seealso cref="CachedGuildMessage"/> items associated with this entry.
+    /// </summary>
+    public ICollection<CachedGuildMessage> Messages { get; set; } = null!;
 }
diff --git a/Data/CachedUser.cs b/Data/CachedUser.cs
index 04d4d01..be8c3fa 100644
--- a/Data/CachedUser.cs
+++ b/Data/CachedUser.cs
@@ -37,12 +37,10 @@ public class CachedUser {
     /// <summary>
     /// If included in the query, gets the list of associated <seealso cref="CachedGuildUser"/> entries for this entry.
     /// </summary>
-    [InverseProperty(nameof(CachedGuildUser.User))]
     public ICollection<CachedGuildUser> Guilds { get; set; } = null!;
 
     /// <summary>
     /// If included in the query, gets the list of associated <seealso cref="CachedGuildMessage"/> entries for this entry.
     /// </summary>
-    [InverseProperty(nameof(CachedGuildMessage.Author))]
     public ICollection<CachedGuildMessage> GuildMessages { get; set; } = null!;
 }
diff --git a/Data/ModLogEntry.cs b/Data/ModLogEntry.cs
index 1f6e06e..7bc6a7f 100644
--- a/Data/ModLogEntry.cs
+++ b/Data/ModLogEntry.cs
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ public class ModLogEntry : ISharedEvent {
     public string? Message { get; set; }
 
     /// <summary>
-    /// If included in the query, gets the associated <seealso cref="CachedGuildUser"/> for this entry.
+    /// Gets the associated <seealso cref="CachedGuildUser"/> for this entry. This entity is auto-included.
     /// </summary>
     public CachedGuildUser User { get; set; } = null!;
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Modules/ModLogs/ModLogs_Messages.cs b/Modules/ModLogs/ModLogs_Messages.cs
index 625a85f..f826ab4 100644
--- a/Modules/ModLogs/ModLogs_Messages.cs
+++ b/Modules/ModLogs/ModLogs_Messages.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 using Discord;
-using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
 using RegexBot.Data;
 using System.Text;
 
@@ -24,7 +23,6 @@ internal partial class ModLogs {
 
         using var db = new BotDatabaseContext();
         var cachedMsg = db.GuildMessageCache
-            .Include(gm => gm.Author)
             .Where(gm => gm.MessageId == argMsg.Id)
             .SingleOrDefault();
 
@@ -50,8 +48,8 @@ internal partial class ModLogs {
                 };
             } else {
                 reportEmbed.Author = new EmbedAuthorBuilder() {
-                    Name = $"{cachedMsg.Author.Username}#{cachedMsg.Author.Discriminator}",
-                    IconUrl = cachedMsg.Author.AvatarUrl ?? GetDefaultAvatarUrl(cachedMsg.Author.Discriminator)
+                    Name = $"{cachedMsg.Author.User.Username}#{cachedMsg.Author.User.Discriminator}",
+                    IconUrl = cachedMsg.Author.User.AvatarUrl ?? GetDefaultAvatarUrl(cachedMsg.Author.User.Discriminator)
                 };
             }
             SetAttachmentsField(reportEmbed, cachedMsg.AttachmentNames);
diff --git a/Services/EntityCache/UserCachingSubservice.cs b/Services/EntityCache/UserCachingSubservice.cs
index bc369b0..f07010f 100644
--- a/Services/EntityCache/UserCachingSubservice.cs
+++ b/Services/EntityCache/UserCachingSubservice.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 #pragma warning disable CA1822 // "Mark members as static" - members should only be callable by code with access to this instance
-using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
 using RegexBot.Common;
 using RegexBot.Data;
 
@@ -112,7 +111,7 @@ class UserCachingSubservice {
     internal CachedGuildUser? DoGuildUserQuery(ulong guildId, string search) {
         static CachedGuildUser? innerQuery(ulong guildId, ulong? sID, (string name, string? disc)? nameSearch) {
             var db = new BotDatabaseContext();
-            var query = db.GuildUserCache.Include(gu => gu.User).Where(c => c.GuildId == guildId);
+            var query = db.GuildUserCache.Where(c => c.GuildId == guildId);
             if (sID.HasValue)
                 query = query.Where(c => c.UserId == sID.Value);
             if (nameSearch != null) {