diff --git a/migrations/20201204081504-settings-sftp-requireAdmin.js b/migrations/20201204081504-settings-sftp-requireAdmin.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..282c7d6ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/20201204081504-settings-sftp-requireAdmin.js
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+'use strict';
+
+exports.up = function(db, callback) {
+    db.all('SELECT * FROM settings WHERE name=?', ['platform_config'], function (error, results) {
+        let value;
+        if (error || results.length === 0) {
+            value = { sftp: { requireAdmin: true } }; // new installations
+        } else {
+            value = JSON.parse(results[0].value);
+            if (!value.sftp) value.sftp = {};
+            value.sftp.requireAdmin = false; // existing installation, backward compat
+        }
+
+        db.runSql('UPDATE settings SET value=? WHERE name=?', [ JSON.stringify(value), 'platform_config' ], callback);
+    });
+};
+
+exports.down = function(db, callback) {
+    callback();
+};
diff --git a/src/ldap.js b/src/ldap.js
index 360eaaddc..10b66c6fd 100644
--- a/src/ldap.js
+++ b/src/ldap.js
@@ -579,8 +579,7 @@ function loadSftpConfig(req, res, next) {
     addons.getServicesConfig('sftp', function (error, service, servicesConfig) {
         if (error) return next(new ldap.OperationsError(error.toString()));
 
-        const serviceConfig = servicesConfig['sftp'];
-        req.requireAdmin = serviceConfig && 'requireAdmin' in serviceConfig ? serviceConfig.requireAdmin : true;
+        req.requireAdmin = servicesConfig['sftp'].requireAdmin;
 
         next();
     });
diff --git a/src/routes/services.js b/src/routes/services.js
index 22217af6e..b9acdb007 100644
--- a/src/routes/services.js
+++ b/src/routes/services.js
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ function configure(req, res, next) {
         memorySwap: req.body.memorySwap
     };
 
-    if (req.params.service === 'sftp' && 'requireAdmin' in req.body) {
+    if (req.params.service === 'sftp') {
         if (typeof req.body.requireAdmin !== 'boolean') return next(new HttpError(400, 'requireAdmin must be a boolean'));
         data.requireAdmin = req.body.requireAdmin;
     }