diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/modal/delete-topic-disallowed.hbs b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/modal/delete-topic-disallowed.hbs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..90c11afd65b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/modal/delete-topic-disallowed.hbs
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{{#d-modal-body}}
+  <p>{{{i18n "post.controls.delete_topic_disallowed_modal"}}}</p>
+{{/d-modal-body}}
+<div class="modal-footer">
+  {{d-button action="closeModal" class="btn-primary" label="close"}}
+</div>
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/widgets/post-menu.js.es6 b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/widgets/post-menu.js.es6
index 55f44ab0057..7e65b0ac478 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/widgets/post-menu.js.es6
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/widgets/post-menu.js.es6
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { applyDecorators, createWidget } from "discourse/widgets/widget";
 import { avatarAtts } from "discourse/widgets/actions-summary";
 import { h } from "virtual-dom";
+import showModal from "discourse/lib/show-modal";
 
 const LIKE_ACTION = 2;
 
@@ -281,6 +282,14 @@ registerButton("delete", attrs => {
       icon: "trash-o",
       className: "delete"
     };
+  } else if (!attrs.canDelete && attrs.firstPost && attrs.yours) {
+    return {
+      id: "delete_topic",
+      action: "showDeleteTopicModal",
+      title: "post.controls.delete_topic_disallowed",
+      icon: "trash-o",
+      className: "delete"
+    };
   }
 });
 
@@ -467,6 +476,10 @@ export default createWidget("post-menu", {
     this.state.adminVisible = false;
   },
 
+  showDeleteTopicModal() {
+    showModal("delete-topic-disallowed");
+  },
+
   showMoreActions() {
     this.state.collapsed = false;
     if (!this.state.likedUsers.length) {
diff --git a/config/locales/client.en.yml b/config/locales/client.en.yml
index b6a1dcce2dc..2ec1caf0ea9 100644
--- a/config/locales/client.en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/client.en.yml
@@ -2104,6 +2104,8 @@ en:
         lock_post_description: "prevent the poster from editing this post"
         unlock_post: "Unlock Post"
         unlock_post_description: "allow the poster to edit this post"
+        delete_topic_disallowed_modal: "You don't have permission to delete this topic. If you really want it to be deleted, submit a flag for moderator attention together with reasoning."
+        delete_topic_disallowed: "you don't have permission to delete this topic"
 
       actions:
         flag: 'Flag'
diff --git a/test/javascripts/widgets/post-test.js.es6 b/test/javascripts/widgets/post-test.js.es6
index 4cc8fb34ced..7bd21c9342a 100644
--- a/test/javascripts/widgets/post-test.js.es6
+++ b/test/javascripts/widgets/post-test.js.es6
@@ -298,6 +298,30 @@ widgetTest(`delete topic button - can't delete`, {
   }
 });
 
+widgetTest(
+  `delete topic button - can't delete when topic author without permission`,
+  {
+    template:
+      '{{mount-widget widget="post" args=args deletePost="deletePost"}}',
+    beforeEach() {
+      this.set("args", {
+        canDeleteTopic: false,
+        yours: true,
+        firstPost: true
+      });
+    },
+
+    test(assert) {
+      assert.equal(this.$("button.delete").length, 1, `button is displayed`);
+      assert.equal(
+        this.$("button.delete").attr("title"),
+        I18n.t("post.controls.delete_topic_disallowed"),
+        `shows the right button title for users without permissions`
+      );
+    }
+  }
+);
+
 widgetTest("recover topic button", {
   template:
     '{{mount-widget widget="post" args=args recoverPost="recoverPost"}}',