diff --git a/app/controllers/discourse_subscriptions/hooks_controller.rb b/app/controllers/discourse_subscriptions/hooks_controller.rb
index f847254..cc5e143 100644
--- a/app/controllers/discourse_subscriptions/hooks_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/discourse_subscriptions/hooks_controller.rb
@@ -37,10 +37,14 @@ module DiscourseSubscriptions
         email = checkout_session[:customer_email]
 
         return head 200 if checkout_session[:status] != "complete"
-        return render_json_error "customer not found" if checkout_session[:customer].nil?
         return render_json_error "email not found" if !email
 
-        customer_id = checkout_session[:customer]
+        if checkout_session[:customer].nil?
+          customer = ::Stripe::Customer.create({ email: email })
+          customer_id = customer[:id]
+        else
+          customer_id = checkout_session[:customer]
+        end
 
         if SiteSetting.discourse_subscriptions_enable_verbose_logging
           Rails.logger.warn("Looking up user with email: #{email}")
@@ -48,7 +52,7 @@ module DiscourseSubscriptions
 
         user = ::User.find_by_username_or_email(email)
 
-        return render_json_error "customer not found" if !user
+        return render_json_error "user not found" if !user
 
         discourse_customer = Customer.create(user_id: user.id, customer_id: customer_id)
 
diff --git a/spec/requests/hooks_controller_spec.rb b/spec/requests/hooks_controller_spec.rb
index ccb2ca2..9641036 100644
--- a/spec/requests/hooks_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/hooks_controller_spec.rb
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseSubscriptions::HooksController do
         object: {
           id: "cs_test_a1ENei5A9TGOaEketyV5qweiQR5CyJWHT5j8T3HheQY3uah3RxzKttVUKZ",
           object: "checkout.session",
-          customer: customer.customer_id,
+          customer: nil,
           customer_email: user.email,
           invoice: nil,
           metadata: {
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseSubscriptions::HooksController do
           id: "cs_test_a1ENei5A9TGOaEketyV5qweiQR5CyJWHT5j8T3HheQY3uah3RxzKttVUKZ",
           object: "checkout.session",
           customer: nil,
-          customer_email: user.email,
+          customer_email: nil,
           invoice: "in_1P9b7iEYXaQnncSh81AQtuHD",
           metadata: {
           },
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseSubscriptions::HooksController do
           payment_status: "paid",
           status: "complete",
           submit_type: nil,
-          subscription: "sub_1P9b7iEYXaQnncSh3H3G9d2Y",
+          subscription: nil,
           success_url: "http://localhost:4200/my/billing/subscriptions",
           url: nil,
         },
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseSubscriptions::HooksController do
           .returns(list_line_items_data)
 
         ::Stripe::Webhook.stubs(:construct_event).returns(event)
+        ::Stripe::Customer.stubs(:create).returns(id: "cus_1234")
       end
 
       it "is returns 422" do
@@ -217,6 +218,7 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseSubscriptions::HooksController do
           .returns(list_line_items_data)
 
         ::Stripe::Webhook.stubs(:construct_event).returns(event)
+        ::Stripe::Customer.stubs(:create).returns(id: "cus_1234")
       end
 
       it "is returns 200" do
@@ -236,6 +238,7 @@ RSpec.describe DiscourseSubscriptions::HooksController do
           .returns(list_line_items_data)
 
         ::Stripe::Webhook.stubs(:construct_event).returns(event)
+        ::Stripe::Customer.stubs(:create).returns(id: "cus_1234")
       end
 
       it "is returns 422" do