diff --git a/src/categories.js b/src/categories.js
index ac89bb4ac1..e033102264 100644
--- a/src/categories.js
+++ b/src/categories.js
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ var async = require('async'),
 		}
 
 		category.name = validator.escape(category.name);
-		category.disabled = parseInt(category.disabled, 10) === 1;
+		category.disabled = category.hasOwnProperty('disabled') ? parseInt(category.disabled, 10) === 1 : undefined;
 		category.icon = category.icon || 'hidden';
 		if (category.hasOwnProperty('post_count')) {
 			category.post_count = category.totalPostCount = category.post_count || 0;
diff --git a/src/controllers/unread.js b/src/controllers/unread.js
index 0354ea7310..672ec37542 100644
--- a/src/controllers/unread.js
+++ b/src/controllers/unread.js
@@ -30,11 +30,11 @@ unreadController.unread = function(req, res, next) {
 		},
 		function(_results, next) {
 			results = _results;
-			categories.getMultipleCategoryFields(results.watchedCategories, ['cid', 'name', 'slug', 'icon', 'link'], next);
+			categories.getMultipleCategoryFields(results.watchedCategories, ['cid', 'name', 'slug', 'icon', 'link', 'disabled'], next);
 		},
 		function(categories, next) {
 			categories = categories.filter(function(category) {
-				return category && !category.link;
+				return category && !category.link && !category.disabled;
 			});
 			categories.forEach(function(category) {
 				category.selected = parseInt(category.cid, 10) === parseInt(cid, 10);