diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2773137..645ac16 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@ B{rew}log ships as one executable. You decide whether it acts as a server or a c
 
 ### First-time setup
 
-On first start, you must set an admin password via the `BREWLOG_ADMIN_PASSWORD` environment variable:
+On first start, you must set an admin username and password via the `BREWLOG_ADMIN_USERNAME` and `BREWLOG_ADMIN_PASSWORD` environment variables:
 
 ```bash
-BREWLOG_ADMIN_PASSWORD="your-secure-password" brewlog serve
+BREWLOG_ADMIN_USERNAME="admin" BREWLOG_ADMIN_PASSWORD="your-secure-password" brewlog serve
 ```
 
-This creates the admin user in the database. On subsequent starts, the environment variable is not required.
+This creates the admin user in the database. On subsequent starts, the environment variables are not required.
 
 ### Authentication
 
diff --git a/src/application/server.rs b/src/application/server.rs
index 8777c71..0f71a53 100644
--- a/src/application/server.rs
+++ b/src/application/server.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ pub struct ServerConfig {
     pub bind_address: SocketAddr,
     pub database_url: String,
     pub admin_password: Option<String>,
+    pub admin_username: Option<String>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Clone)]
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ pub async fn serve(config: ServerConfig) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         Arc::new(SqlSessionRepository::new(database.clone_pool()));
 
     // Bootstrap admin user if no users exist
-    bootstrap_admin_user(&user_repo, config.admin_password).await?;
+    bootstrap_admin_user(&user_repo, config.admin_username, config.admin_password).await?;
 
     let state = AppState::new(
         roaster_repo,
@@ -106,6 +107,7 @@ pub async fn serve(config: ServerConfig) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
 
 async fn bootstrap_admin_user(
     user_repo: &Arc<dyn UserRepository>,
+    admin_username: Option<String>,
     admin_password: Option<String>,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     // Check if any users exist
@@ -120,6 +122,13 @@ async fn bootstrap_admin_user(
     }
 
     // No users exist - we need to create the admin user
+    let username = admin_username.ok_or_else(|| {
+        anyhow::anyhow!(
+            "No users exist in the database. Please provide BREWLOG_ADMIN_USERNAME \
+             environment variable to create the admin user."
+        )
+    })?;
+
     let password = admin_password.ok_or_else(|| {
         anyhow::anyhow!(
             "No users exist in the database. Please provide BREWLOG_ADMIN_PASSWORD \
@@ -127,11 +136,11 @@ async fn bootstrap_admin_user(
         )
     })?;
 
-    info!("No users found. Creating admin user...");
+    info!("No users found. Creating admin user '{}'...", username);
 
     let password_hash = hash_password(&password).context("failed to hash admin password")?;
 
-    let admin_user = NewUser::new("admin".to_string(), password_hash);
+    let admin_user = NewUser::new(username, password_hash);
 
     user_repo
         .insert(admin_user)
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index f1a1b64..5a193b2 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ async fn run_server(command: ServeCommand) -> Result<()> {
         bind_address: command.bind_address,
         database_url: command.database_url,
         admin_password: command.admin_password,
+        admin_username: command.admin_username,
     };
 
     serve(config).await
diff --git a/src/presentation/cli/mod.rs b/src/presentation/cli/mod.rs
index c8a93ef..82d89ba 100644
--- a/src/presentation/cli/mod.rs
+++ b/src/presentation/cli/mod.rs
@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@ pub struct ServeCommand {
 
     #[arg(long, env = "BREWLOG_ADMIN_PASSWORD")]
     pub admin_password: Option<String>,
+
+    #[arg(long, env = "BREWLOG_ADMIN_USERNAME")]
+    pub admin_username: Option<String>,
 }
 
 pub(crate) fn print_json<T>(value: &T) -> anyhow::Result<()>
diff --git a/tests/cli/helpers.rs b/tests/cli/helpers.rs
index 15e32cf..d229b37 100644
--- a/tests/cli/helpers.rs
+++ b/tests/cli/helpers.rs
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ fn ensure_server_started() -> Result<(String, String), String> {
                 &db_url,
             ])
             .env("BREWLOG_ADMIN_PASSWORD", admin_password)
+            .env("BREWLOG_ADMIN_USERNAME", "admin")
             .env("RUST_LOG", "error")
             .stdout(Stdio::null())
             .stderr(Stdio::null())