diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/group-activity.js.es6 b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/group-activity.js.es6
index de4bda4dcdd..2722bebdd30 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/group-activity.js.es6
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/group-activity.js.es6
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ export default Ember.Controller.extend({
 
   @computed('model.is_group_user')
   showGroupMessages(isGroupUser) {
+    if (!this.siteSettings.enable_personal_messages) {
+      return false;
+    }
     return isGroupUser || (this.currentUser && this.currentUser.admin);
   }
 });
diff --git a/lib/guardian/group_guardian.rb b/lib/guardian/group_guardian.rb
index 95ec4f2fdef..fd18ff797a6 100644
--- a/lib/guardian/group_guardian.rb
+++ b/lib/guardian/group_guardian.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ module GroupGuardian
   end
 
   def can_see_group_messages?(group)
-    is_admin? || group.users.include?(user)
+    SiteSetting.enable_private_messages? && (
+      is_admin? || group.users.include?(user)
+    )
   end
 end