diff --git a/sample_project/entrypoint.sh b/sample_project/entrypoint.sh
index 2b40c9ff4..9d3244001 100755
--- a/sample_project/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/sample_project/entrypoint.sh
@@ -3,4 +3,8 @@
 /app/manage.py migrate
 /app/manage.py setup || true
 /app/manage.py loaddata sample_project --settings=sample_project.settings_loaddata
+if [ -n "${DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD+x}" ]; then
+  echo "Creating adchadmin user with password $DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD"
+  /app/manage.py createsuperuser --email acdhadmin@discworld.acdh-ch-dev.oeaw.ac.at --user acdhadmin --noinput
+fi
 /app/manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:5000