diff --git a/services/cache.py b/services/cache.py
index d68f36b7..7f516bd0 100644
--- a/services/cache.py
+++ b/services/cache.py
@@ -76,12 +76,13 @@ async def get_cached_author(author_id: int, get_with_stat):
 
 
 async def get_cached_author_by_user_id(user_id: str, get_with_stat):
-    author_dict = await redis.execute("GET", f"author:user:{user_id}")
+    author_str = await redis.execute("GET", f"author:user:{user_id}")
     author_id = None
-    if not author_dict:
+    if not author_str:
         with local_session() as session:
             author_id = session.query(Author.id).filter(Author.user == user_id).first()
     else:
+        author_dict = json.loads(author_str)
         author_id = author_dict.get("id")
     if author_id:
         cached_author = await get_cached_author(int(author_id), get_with_stat)