diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 02e2840ffec69497dee78406246610bef528e2a3..760218690b0706bf5669670237d935578e180dee 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ v 7.0.0
   - UI improvements
   - Case-insensetive search for issues
   - Update to rails 4.1
+  - Improve performance of application for projects and groups with a lot of members
 
 v 6.9.2
   - Revert the commit that broke the LDAP user filter
diff --git a/app/models/ability.rb b/app/models/ability.rb
index 70c26caded85667f9e59adb09ad25d3d0a1679e1..df9b210dfca1e9eb2d7665de7176571e2ab2a5fd 100644
--- a/app/models/ability.rb
+++ b/app/models/ability.rb
@@ -71,16 +71,16 @@ class Ability
       team = project.team
 
       # Rules based on role in project
-      if team.masters.include?(user)
+      if team.master?(user)
         rules += project_master_rules
 
-      elsif team.developers.include?(user)
+      elsif team.developer?(user)
         rules += project_dev_rules
 
-      elsif team.reporters.include?(user)
+      elsif team.reporter?(user)
         rules += project_report_rules
 
-      elsif team.guests.include?(user)
+      elsif team.guest?(user)
         rules += project_guest_rules
       end
 
diff --git a/app/models/project_team.rb b/app/models/project_team.rb
index eca13e56061a267a1d075681985cbb1427a4283b..cc8bb60aac4ce072b6b4857892f609446397d01c 100644
--- a/app/models/project_team.rb
+++ b/app/models/project_team.rb
@@ -117,6 +117,22 @@ class ProjectTeam
     false
   end
 
+  def guest?(user)
+    find_tm(user.id).try(:access_field) == Gitlab::Access::GUEST
+  end
+
+  def reporter?(user)
+    find_tm(user.id).try(:access_field) == Gitlab::Access::REPORTER
+  end
+
+  def developer?(user)
+    find_tm(user.id).try(:access_field) == Gitlab::Access::DEVELOPER
+  end
+
+  def master?(user)
+    find_tm(user.id).try(:access_field) == Gitlab::Access::MASTER
+  end
+
   private
 
   def fetch_members(level = nil)
diff --git a/spec/models/project_team_spec.rb b/spec/models/project_team_spec.rb
index 3e3543e85e1866033d2a885d8ca826683462a1e6..1a7e3cd94b4a92561340c868da55c963a06be317 100644
--- a/spec/models/project_team_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/project_team_spec.rb
@@ -1,15 +1,36 @@
 require "spec_helper"
 
 describe ProjectTeam do
-  let(:team) { create(:project).team }
+  let(:group) { create(:group) }
+  let(:project) { create(:empty_project, group: group) }
 
-  describe "Respond to" do
-    subject { team }
+  let(:master) { create(:user) }
+  let(:reporter) { create(:user) }
+  let(:guest) { create(:user) }
+  let(:nonmember) { create(:user) }
 
-    it { should respond_to(:developers) }
-    it { should respond_to(:masters) }
-    it { should respond_to(:reporters) }
-    it { should respond_to(:guests) }
+  before do
+    group.add_user(master, Gitlab::Access::MASTER)
+    group.add_user(reporter, Gitlab::Access::REPORTER)
+    group.add_user(guest, Gitlab::Access::GUEST)
+
+    # Add group guest as master to this project
+    # to test project access priority over group members
+    project.team << [guest, :master]
+  end
+
+  describe 'members collection' do
+    it { team.masters.should include(master) }
+    it { team.masters.should include(guest) }
+    it { team.masters.should_not include(reporter) }
+    it { team.masters.should_not include(nonmember) }
+  end
+
+  describe 'access methods' do
+    it { team.master?(master).should be_true }
+    it { team.master?(guest).should be_true }
+    it { team.master?(reporter).should be_false }
+    it { team.master?(nonmember).should be_false }
   end
 end