diff --git a/jupyterhub/scopes.py b/jupyterhub/scopes.py
index 7ecacad8..a800f273 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/scopes.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/scopes.py
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ scope_definitions = {
     },
     'read:servers': {
         'description': 'Read users’ names and their server models (excluding the server state).',
-        'subscopes': [],
+        'subscopes': ['read:users:name'],
     },
     'delete:servers': {'description': "Stop and delete users' servers."},
     'tokens': {
@@ -461,7 +461,12 @@ def _expand_scope(scope):
     # reapply !filter
     if filter_:
         expanded_scopes = {
-            f"{scope_name}!{filter_}" for scope_name in expanded_scope_names
+            f"{scope_name}!{filter_}"
+            for scope_name in expanded_scope_names
+            # server scopes have some cross-resource subscopes
+            # where the !server filter doesn't make sense,
+            # e.g. read:servers -> read:users:name
+            if not (filter_.startswith("server") and scope_name.startswith("read:user"))
         }
     else:
         expanded_scopes = expanded_scope_names
diff --git a/jupyterhub/tests/test_roles.py b/jupyterhub/tests/test_roles.py
index 898442da..6dd5bdfe 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/tests/test_roles.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/tests/test_roles.py
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ def test_orm_roles_delete_cascade(db):
                 'read:users:activity',
             },
         ),
-        (['read:servers'], {'read:servers'}),
+        (['read:servers'], {'read:servers', 'read:users:name'}),
         (
             ['admin:groups'],
             {
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ def test_orm_roles_delete_cascade(db):
                 'read:roles:groups',
                 'read:groups:name',
                 'read:servers',
+                'read:users:name',
             },
         ),
         (
diff --git a/jupyterhub/tests/test_scopes.py b/jupyterhub/tests/test_scopes.py
index a5f0078c..4964cb5b 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/tests/test_scopes.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/tests/test_scopes.py
@@ -555,23 +555,28 @@ async def test_server_state_access(
             await api_request(
                 app, 'users', user.name, 'servers', server_name, method='post'
             )
-        service = create_service_with_scopes(
-            f"read:users:name!user={user.name}", *scopes
-        )
+        service = create_service_with_scopes("read:users:name!user=", *scopes)
         api_token = service.new_api_token()
         headers = {'Authorization': 'token %s' % api_token}
+
+        # can I get the user model?
         r = await api_request(app, 'users', user.name, headers=headers)
-        r.raise_for_status()
-        user_model = r.json()
-        if num_servers:
-            assert 'servers' in user_model
-            server_models = user_model['servers']
-            assert len(server_models) == num_servers
-            for server, server_model in server_models.items():
-                assert keys_in.issubset(server_model)
-                assert keys_out.isdisjoint(server_model)
+        can_read_user_model = num_servers > 1 or 'read:users' in scopes
+        if can_read_user_model:
+            r.raise_for_status()
+            user_model = r.json()
+            if num_servers > 1:
+                assert 'servers' in user_model
+                server_models = user_model['servers']
+                assert len(server_models) == num_servers
+                for server, server_model in server_models.items():
+                    assert keys_in.issubset(server_model)
+                    assert keys_out.isdisjoint(server_model)
+            else:
+                assert 'servers' not in user_model
         else:
-            assert 'servers' not in user_model
+            assert r.status_code == 404
+
         r = await api_request(
             app,
             'users',