diff --git a/migrations/20160208164735-groups-add-admin.js b/migrations/20160208164735-groups-add-admin.js
index 2eedc9836..0986f4c16 100644
--- a/migrations/20160208164735-groups-add-admin.js
+++ b/migrations/20160208164735-groups-add-admin.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 var async = require('async');
 
-var ADMIN_GROUP_ID = 'admin'; // see groups.js
+var ADMIN_GROUP_ID = 'admin'; // see constants.js
 
 exports.up = function(db, callback) {
 	async.series([
diff --git a/migrations/20171026212925-apps-add-domain.js b/migrations/20171026212925-apps-add-domain.js
index 9b28d50fa..7c99426c8 100644
--- a/migrations/20171026212925-apps-add-domain.js
+++ b/migrations/20171026212925-apps-add-domain.js
@@ -39,6 +39,18 @@ exports.up = function(db, callback) {
                 function addAppsLocationDomainUniqueConstraint(done) {
                     db.runSql('ALTER TABLE apps ADD UNIQUE location_domain_unique_index (location, domain)', [], done);
                 },
+                function removePresetupAdminGroupIfNew(done) {
+                    // do not delete on update, will update the record in setMailboxesDomain()
+                    if (domain.fqdn) return done();
+
+                    // this will be finally created once we have a domain when we create the owner in user.js
+                    const ADMIN_GROUP_ID = 'admin'; // see constants.js
+                    db.runSql('DELETE FROM groups WHERE id = ?', [ ADMIN_GROUP_ID ], function (error) {
+                        if (error) return done(error);
+
+                        db.runSql('DELETE FROM mailboxes WHERE ownerId = ?', [ ADMIN_GROUP_ID ], done);
+                    });
+                },
                 function addMailboxesDomainColumn(done) {
                     db.runSql('ALTER TABLE mailboxes ADD COLUMN domain VARCHAR(128)', [], done);
                 },
@@ -59,19 +71,15 @@ exports.down = function(db, callback) {
     async.series([
         db.runSql.bind(db, 'START TRANSACTION;'),
         function dropMailboxesDomainColumn(done) {
-            // done();
             db.runSql('ALTER TABLE mailboxes DROP COLUMN domain', [], done);
         },
         function dropLocationDomainUniqueConstraint(done) {
-            // done();
             db.runSql('ALTER TABLE apps DROP INDEX location_domain_unique_index', [], done);
         },
         function dropAppsDomainColumn(done) {
-            // done();
             db.runSql('ALTER TABLE apps DROP COLUMN domain', [], done);
         },
         function addAppsLocationUniqueConstraint(done) {
-            // done();
             db.runSql('ALTER TABLE apps ADD UNIQUE location (location)', [], done);
         },
         db.runSql.bind(db, 'COMMIT')
diff --git a/src/constants.js b/src/constants.js
index 793aba4a8..da8ca1bd5 100644
--- a/src/constants.js
+++ b/src/constants.js
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ exports = module.exports = {
     ADMIN_NAME: 'Settings',
 
     ADMIN_CLIENT_ID: 'webadmin', // oauth client id
-    ADMIN_APPID: 'admin', // admin appid (settingsdb)
 
+    ADMIN_GROUP_NAME: 'admin',
     ADMIN_GROUP_ID: 'admin',
 
     NGINX_ADMIN_CONFIG_FILE_NAME: 'admin.conf',
diff --git a/src/user.js b/src/user.js
index ff9fc1ac6..2d66f48ee 100644
--- a/src/user.js
+++ b/src/user.js
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ var assert = require('assert'),
     debug = require('debug')('box:user'),
     DatabaseError = require('./databaseerror.js'),
     eventlog = require('./eventlog.js'),
+    groupdb = require('./groupdb.js'),
     groups = require('./groups.js'),
     GroupError = groups.GroupError,
     hat = require('hat'),
@@ -551,13 +552,19 @@ function createOwner(username, password, email, displayName, auditSource, callba
         if (error) return callback(new UserError(UserError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
         if (count !== 0) return callback(new UserError(UserError.ALREADY_EXISTS, 'Owner already exists'));
 
-        createUser(username, password, email, displayName, auditSource, { owner: true }, function (error, user) {
-            if (error) return callback(error);
+        // have to provide the group id explicitly so using db layer directly
+        groupdb.add(constants.ADMIN_GROUP_ID, constants.ADMIN_GROUP_NAME, function (error) {
+            // we proceed if it already exists so we can re-create the owner if need be
+            if (error && error.reason !== DatabaseError.ALREADY_EXISTS) return callback(new UserError(UserError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
 
-            groups.addMember(constants.ADMIN_GROUP_ID, user.id, function (error) {
-                if (error) return callback(new UserError(UserError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
+            createUser(username, password, email, displayName, auditSource, { owner: true }, function (error, user) {
+                if (error) return callback(error);
 
-                callback(null, user);
+                groups.addMember(constants.ADMIN_GROUP_ID, user.id, function (error) {
+                    if (error) return callback(new UserError(UserError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
+
+                    callback(null, user);
+                });
             });
         });
     });