diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f34ea3cc..96426b67 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ v1.6.1 - unreleased
 - Enhancement: Make Unbound drop privileges after binding to port
 - Enhancement: Stop using static assets, but build them using Webpack
 - Enhancement: Create an Authentication Token with IPv6 address restriction ([#829](https://github.com/Mailu/Mailu/issues/829))
+- Enhancement: Automatically create admin user on container startup if given appropriate environment variables
 - Enhancement: Missing wildcard option in alias flask command ([#869](https://github.com/Mailu/Mailu/issues/869))
 - Bug: Fix creating new fetched accounts
 - Bug: Fix poor performance if ANTIVIRUS is configured to none.
diff --git a/core/admin/mailu/manage.py b/core/admin/mailu/manage.py
index e113abfe..819fe410 100644
--- a/core/admin/mailu/manage.py
+++ b/core/admin/mailu/manage.py
@@ -42,22 +42,44 @@ def advertise():
 @click.argument('localpart')
 @click.argument('domain_name')
 @click.argument('password')
+@click.option('-m', '--mode')
 @flask_cli.with_appcontext
-def admin(localpart, domain_name, password):
+def admin(localpart, domain_name, password, mode='create'):
     """ Create an admin user
+        'mode' can be:
+            - 'create' (default) Will try to create user and will raise an exception if present
+            - 'ifmissing': if user exists, nothing happens, else it will be created
+            - 'update': user is created or, if it exists, its password gets updated
     """
     domain = models.Domain.query.get(domain_name)
     if not domain:
         domain = models.Domain(name=domain_name)
         db.session.add(domain)
-    user = models.User(
-        localpart=localpart,
-        domain=domain,
-        global_admin=True
-    )
-    user.set_password(password)
-    db.session.add(user)
-    db.session.commit()
+
+    user = None
+    if mode == 'ifmissing' or mode == 'update':
+        email = '{}@{}'.format(localpart, domain_name)
+        user = models.User.query.get(email)
+
+        if user and mode == 'ifmissing':
+            print('user %s exists, not updating' % email)
+            return
+
+    if not user:
+        user = models.User(
+            localpart=localpart,
+            domain=domain,
+            global_admin=True
+        )
+        user.set_password(password)
+        db.session.add(user)
+        db.session.commit()
+        print("created admin user")
+    elif mode == 'update':
+        user.set_password(password)
+        db.session.commit()
+        print("updated admin password")
+
 
 
 @mailu.command()
diff --git a/core/admin/start.py b/core/admin/start.py
index bf0dc38f..d8165ff3 100755
--- a/core/admin/start.py
+++ b/core/admin/start.py
@@ -4,4 +4,13 @@ import os
 
 os.system("flask mailu advertise")
 os.system("flask db upgrade")
+
+account = os.environ.get("INITIAL_ADMIN_ACCOUNT")
+domain = os.environ.get("INITIAL_ADMIN_DOMAIN")
+password = os.environ.get("INITIAL_ADMIN_PW")
+
+if account is not None and domain is not None and password is not None:
+    mode = os.environ.get("INITIAL_ADMIN_MODE", default="ifmissing")
+    os.system("flask mailu admin %s %s '%s' --mode %s" % (account, domain, password, mode))
+
 os.system("gunicorn -w 4 -b :80 --access-logfile - --error-logfile - --preload 'mailu:create_app()'")
diff --git a/docs/compose/setup.rst b/docs/compose/setup.rst
index c1a620e6..2352f16e 100644
--- a/docs/compose/setup.rst
+++ b/docs/compose/setup.rst
@@ -96,7 +96,13 @@ You may now start Mailu. Move the to the Mailu directory and run:
 
   docker-compose up -d
 
-Finally, you must create the initial admin user account:
+Finally, you need an admin user account. 
+
+You can have the system create it automatically:
+use the environment variables ``INITIAL_ACCOUNT*`` as described in :ref:`admin_account`
+You should set ``INITIAL_ADMIN_MODE`` also to either ``update`` or ``ifmissing``. Leaving it with the default value could cause errors when restarting the system.  
+
+Else, if you don't go with the automatic way, you need to manually create the admin account now:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
diff --git a/docs/configuration.rst b/docs/configuration.rst
index 7b84d6fc..2116888b 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.rst
+++ b/docs/configuration.rst
@@ -92,6 +92,31 @@ Both ``SITENAME`` and ``WEBSITE`` are customization options for the panel menu
 in the admin interface, while ``SITENAME`` is a customization option for
 every Web interface.
 
+.. _admin_account:
+
+Admin account - automatic creation
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+For administrative tasks, an admin user account will be needed. You can create it manually,
+after deploying the system, or automatically.
+To create it manually, follow the specific deployment method documentation.
+
+To have the account created automatically, you just need to define a few environment variables:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+  INITIAL_ADMIN_ACCOUNT = ``root`` The first part of the e-mail address (ROOT@example.com)
+  INITIAL_ADMIN_DOMAIN = ``example.com`` the domain appendix. Most probably identical to the DOMAIN variable
+  INITIAL_ADMIN_PW = ``password`` the chosen password for the user
+
+Also, environment variable ``INITIAL_ADMIN_MODE`` defines how the code should behave when it will
+try to create the admin user:
+
+- ``create`` (default) Will try to create user and will raise an exception if present
+- ``ifmissing``: if user exists, nothing happens, else it will be created
+- ``update``: user is created or, if it exists, its password gets updated
+
+Depending on your particular deployment you most probably will want to change the default.
+
 Advanced settings
 -----------------
 
diff --git a/docs/kubernetes/mailu/index.rst b/docs/kubernetes/mailu/index.rst
index 0711abbd..ab5f3ca4 100644
--- a/docs/kubernetes/mailu/index.rst
+++ b/docs/kubernetes/mailu/index.rst
@@ -117,7 +117,17 @@ Create the first admin account
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 When the cluster is online you need to create you master user to access https://mail.example.com/admin
-Enter the main ``admin`` pod to create the root account:
+
+You can create it now manually, or have the system create it automatically.
+
+If you want the system to create the admin user account automatically, see :ref:`admin_account`
+about the environment variables needed (``INITIAL_ADMIN_*``).
+Also, important, taking into consideration that a pod in Kubernetes can be stopped/rescheduled at
+any time, you should set ``INITIAL_ADMIN_MODE`` to either ``update`` or ``ifmissing`` - depending on what you 
+want to happen to its password.
+
+
+To create the admin user account manually, enter the main ``admin`` pod:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
@@ -131,13 +141,14 @@ And in the pod run the following command. The command uses following entries:
     flask mailu admin root example.com password
 
 - ``admin`` Make it an admin user
-- ``root`` The first part of the e-mail adres (ROOT@example.com)
+- ``root`` The first part of the e-mail address (ROOT@example.com)
 - ``example.com`` the domain appendix
 - ``password`` the chosen password for the user
 
 
 Now you should be able to login on the mail account: https://mail.example.com/admin
 
+
 Adaptations
 -----------
 
diff --git a/tests/compose/core/00_create_users.sh b/tests/compose/core/00_create_users.sh
index eb214f64..d2ee5c20 100755
--- a/tests/compose/core/00_create_users.sh
+++ b/tests/compose/core/00_create_users.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
-echo "Creating users ..."
-docker-compose -f tests/compose/core/docker-compose.yml exec admin flask mailu admin admin mailu.io password || exit 1
+echo "Users tests ..."
+# Should fail, admin is already auto-created
+docker-compose -f tests/compose/core/docker-compose.yml exec admin flask mailu admin admin mailu.io 'FooBar' && exit 1
+echo "The above error was intended!"
+# Should not fail, but does nothing; ifmissing mode
+docker-compose -f tests/compose/core/docker-compose.yml exec admin flask mailu admin admin mailu.io 'FooBar' --mode=ifmissing || exit 1
+# Should not fail and update the password; update mode
+docker-compose -f tests/compose/core/docker-compose.yml exec admin flask mailu admin admin mailu.io 'password' --mode=update || exit 1
 docker-compose -f tests/compose/core/docker-compose.yml exec admin flask mailu user user mailu.io 'password' 'SHA512-CRYPT' || exit 1
 docker-compose -f tests/compose/core/docker-compose.yml exec admin flask mailu user 'user/with/slash' mailu.io 'password' 'SHA512-CRYPT' || exit 1
-echo "Admin and user successfully created!"
+echo "User testing succesfull!"
diff --git a/tests/compose/core/mailu.env b/tests/compose/core/mailu.env
index d77f3a2d..dd7bd25f 100644
--- a/tests/compose/core/mailu.env
+++ b/tests/compose/core/mailu.env
@@ -140,3 +140,8 @@ REAL_IP_FROM=
 
 # choose wether mailu bounces (no) or rejects (yes) mail when recipient is unknown (value: yes, no)
 REJECT_UNLISTED_RECIPIENT=
+
+# Test for initial admin create
+INITIAL_ADMIN_ACCOUNT=admin
+INITIAL_ADMIN_DOMAIN=mailu.io
+INITIAL_ADMIN_PW=FooBar
\ No newline at end of file