diff --git a/backend/app/routers/admin.py b/backend/app/routers/admin.py
index 963fe4a..c4acdb6 100644
--- a/backend/app/routers/admin.py
+++ b/backend/app/routers/admin.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from typing import Optional
 
 import sqlalchemy as sa
 from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, Path, Query, Request
+from sqlalchemy.dialects.postgresql import JSONB
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
 
 from app.database import get_db
@@ -58,6 +59,22 @@ router = APIRouter(
 )
 
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Audit log helper — resolve target username even for deleted users
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def _target_username_col(target_alias, audit_model):
+    """
+    COALESCE: prefer the live username from the users table,
+    fall back to the username stored in the audit detail JSON
+    (survives user deletion since audit_log.target_user_id → SET NULL).
+    """
+    return sa.func.coalesce(
+        target_alias.username,
+        sa.cast(audit_model.detail, JSONB)["username"].as_string(),
+    ).label("target_username")
+
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Session revocation helper (used in multiple endpoints)
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -152,7 +169,7 @@ async def get_user(
     active_sessions = session_result.scalar_one()
 
     return UserDetailResponse(
-        **UserListItem.model_validate(user).model_dump(),
+        **UserListItem.model_validate(user).model_dump(exclude={"active_sessions"}),
         active_sessions=active_sessions,
     )
 
@@ -197,7 +214,7 @@ async def create_user(
     await db.commit()
 
     return UserDetailResponse(
-        **UserListItem.model_validate(new_user).model_dump(),
+        **UserListItem.model_validate(new_user).model_dump(exclude={"active_sessions"}),
         active_sessions=0,
     )
 
@@ -668,7 +685,7 @@ async def admin_dashboard(
         sa.select(
             AuditLog,
             actor_user.username.label("actor_username"),
-            target_user.username.label("target_username"),
+            _target_username_col(target_user, AuditLog),
         )
         .outerjoin(actor_user, AuditLog.actor_user_id == actor_user.id)
         .outerjoin(target_user, AuditLog.target_user_id == target_user.id)
@@ -722,7 +739,7 @@ async def get_audit_log(
         sa.select(
             AuditLog,
             actor_user.username.label("actor_username"),
-            target_user.username.label("target_username"),
+            _target_username_col(target_user, AuditLog),
         )
         .outerjoin(actor_user, AuditLog.actor_user_id == actor_user.id)
         .outerjoin(target_user, AuditLog.target_user_id == target_user.id)