diff --git a/migrations/20160208164735-groups-add-admin.js b/migrations/20160208164735-groups-add-admin.js
index 785254227..69cd17363 100644
--- a/migrations/20160208164735-groups-add-admin.js
+++ b/migrations/20160208164735-groups-add-admin.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 var dbm = global.dbm || require('db-migrate');
 var async = require('async');
 
-var ADMIN_GROUP_ID = 'gid:admin'; // see groups.js
+var ADMIN_GROUP_ID = 'admin'; // see groups.js
 
 exports.up = function(db, callback) {
 	async.series([
diff --git a/src/groupdb.js b/src/groupdb.js
index c9cf3ef9d..f4e1e3084 100644
--- a/src/groupdb.js
+++ b/src/groupdb.js
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ function clear(callback) {
     database.query('DELETE FROM groupMembers', function (error) {
         if (error) return callback(new DatabaseError(DatabaseError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
 
-        database.query('DELETE FROM groups WHERE id != ?', [ 'gid:admin' ], function (error) {
+        database.query('DELETE FROM groups WHERE id != ?', [ 'admin' ], function (error) {
             if (error) return callback(new DatabaseError(DatabaseError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
 
             callback(error);
diff --git a/src/groups.js b/src/groups.js
index c465fe603..698fe76c6 100644
--- a/src/groups.js
+++ b/src/groups.js
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ exports = module.exports = {
 
     getGroups: getGroups,
 
-    ADMIN_GROUP_ID: 'gid:admin' // see db migration code
+    ADMIN_GROUP_ID: 'admin' // see db migration code and groupdb._clear
 };
 
 var assert = require('assert'),
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ function create(name, callback) {
     var error = validateGroupname(name);
     if (error) return callback(error);
 
-    groupdb.add('gid:' + name /* id */, name, function (error) {
+    groupdb.add(name /* id */, name, function (error) {
         if (error && error.reason === DatabaseError.ALREADY_EXISTS) return callback(new GroupError(GroupError.ALREADY_EXISTS));
         if (error) return callback(new GroupError(GroupError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
 
diff --git a/src/test/group-test.js b/src/test/group-test.js
index 9568caf57..fa3045d81 100644
--- a/src/test/group-test.js
+++ b/src/test/group-test.js
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ var async = require('async'),
     userdb = require('../userdb.js');
 
 var GROUP_NAME = 'administrators',
-    GROUP_ID = 'gid:' + GROUP_NAME;
+    GROUP_ID = GROUP_NAME;
 
 function setup(done) {
     // ensure data/config/mount paths