diff --git a/kepi/bowler_pub/validation.py b/kepi/bowler_pub/validation.py
index 2effd2a..f3172d3 100644
--- a/kepi/bowler_pub/validation.py
+++ b/kepi/bowler_pub/validation.py
@@ -144,20 +144,6 @@ def _run_validation(
         message_id,
         ):
 
-    """
-    Validates a message. Don't call this function directly;
-    call validate(), above.
-
-    If the message is successfully validated, we will
-    ...
-
-    message_id -- the primary key of an IncomingMessage
-        that was generated by validate().
-    """
-
-    logger.info('%s: begin validation',
-            message_id)
-
     try:
         message = IncomingMessage.objects.get(id=message_id)
     except django.core.exceptions.ValidationError:
@@ -166,28 +152,62 @@ def _run_validation(
         # primitive types.
         raise ValueError("_run_validation()'s message_id parameter takes a UUID string")
 
+    valid = _run_validation_inner(message)
+
+    if valid:
+        result = create(message)
+        return result
+
+    return None
+
+def _run_validation_inner(
+        message,
+        ):
+
+    """
+    Validates a message. Don't call this function directly;
+    call validate(), above.
+
+    Returns True iff the message is valid.
+
+    message_id -- the primary key of an IncomingMessage
+        that was generated by validate().
+    """
+
+    logger.info('%s: begin validation',
+            message)
+
     try:
         key_id = message.key_id
     except ValueError:
         logger.warn('%s: message is unsigned; dropping',
                 message)
-        return None
+        return False
 
-    # XXX how do we look up an actor? trilby will have a way.
     try:
         actor = fetch_user(message.actor)
     except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError as jde:
         logger.info('%s: invalid JSON; dropping: %s',
                 message, jde)
-        return None
+        return False
     except UnicodeDecodeError:
         logger.info('%s: invalid UTF-8; dropping', message)
-        return None
+        return False
 
-    if actor is None:
-        logger.info('%s: actor does not exist; dropping message',
+    if actor is None or actor.status==404:
+        logger.info('%s: remote actor does not exist; dropping message',
             message)
-        return None
+        return False
+    elif actor.status==410:
+        logger.info('%s: remote actor has Gone',
+            message)
+        # FIXME: If this message is an instruction to delete a remote user,
+        # it's valid if the remote user is Gone.
+        return False
+    elif actor.status!=200:
+        logger.info('%s: remote actor could not be fetched (status %d)',
+            message, actor.status)
+        return False
 
     logger.debug('%s: message signature is: %s',
             message, message.signature)
@@ -205,7 +225,7 @@ def _run_validation(
         logger.info('%s: actor has an invalid public key (%s); dropping message',
                 message, te,
                 )
-        return None
+        return False
 
     logger.debug('Verifying; key=%s, path=%s, host=%s',
             key, message.path, message.host)
@@ -243,10 +263,8 @@ def _run_validation(
     if not hv.verify():
         logger.info('%s: spoofing attempt; message dropped',
                 message)
-        return None
+        return False
 
     logger.debug('%s: validation passed!', message)
 
-    result = create(message)
-
-    return result
+    return True