diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/serializers.py b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/serializers.py
index 1f7f2264cd19..0e6573fe74bf 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/serializers.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/serializers.py
@@ -273,6 +273,8 @@ def _get_user_label(self, user_id):
         Returns the role label (i.e. "Staff", "Moderator" or "Community TA") for the user
         with the given id.
         """
+        if User.objects.get(id=user_id).is_staff:
+            return "Staff"
         is_staff = user_id in self.context["course_staff_user_ids"]
         is_moderator = user_id in self.context["moderator_user_ids"]
         is_ta = user_id in self.context["ta_user_ids"]