diff --git a/conf/etc/service/graphite/run b/conf/etc/service/graphite/run
index e4316ec..d647736 100755
--- a/conf/etc/service/graphite/run
+++ b/conf/etc/service/graphite/run
@@ -24,12 +24,7 @@ export DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=graphite.settings
 /opt/graphite/bin/django-admin.py makemigrations
 /opt/graphite/bin/django-admin.py migrate auth
 /opt/graphite/bin/django-admin.py migrate --run-syncdb
-if [ -e "/opt/graphite/storage/graphite.db" ]; then
-    # if graphite use sqlite database - create superuser
-    if grep ENGINE /opt/graphite/webapp/graphite/local_settings.py | grep -q django.db.backends.sqlite3; then
-	    /opt/graphite/bin/django_admin_init.exp
-	fi
-fi
+/opt/graphite/bin/django_admin_init.sh || true
 
 if folder_empty /opt/graphite/webapp/graphite/functions/custom; then
 	touch /opt/graphite/webapp/graphite/functions/custom/__init__.py
@@ -42,8 +37,6 @@ export GRAPHITE_WSGI_REQUEST_LINE=${GRAPHITE_WSGI_REQUEST_LINE:-0}
 export GRAPHITE_WSGI_MAX_REQUESTS=${GRAPHITE_WSGI_MAX_REQUESTS:-1000}
 export GRAPHITE_WSGI_WORKER_CLASS=${GRAPHITE_WSGI_WORKER_CLASS:-"sync"}
 export GRAPHITE_WSGI_WORKER_CONNECTIONS=${GRAPHITE_WSGI_WORKER_CONNECTIONS:-1000}
-export PYTHONPATH=/opt/graphite/webapp
-
 if [ "${GRAPHITE_WSGI_WORKER_CLASS}" == "gevent" ]; then
     export GUNICORN_EXTRA_PARAMS="--worker-connections=${GRAPHITE_WSGI_WORKER_CONNECTIONS} "
 else
diff --git a/conf/opt/graphite/bin/django_admin_init.exp b/conf/opt/graphite/bin/django_admin_init.exp
deleted file mode 100755
index ea86687..0000000
--- a/conf/opt/graphite/bin/django_admin_init.exp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env expect
-
-set timeout -1
-spawn /opt/graphite/bin/django-admin.py createsuperuser
-
-expect "Username (leave blank to use 'root'):" {
-  send "root\r"
-}
-
-expect "Email address:" {
-  send "root.graphite@mailinator.com\r"
-}
-
-expect "Password:" {
-  send "root\r"
-}
-
-expect "Password *:" {
-  send "root\r"
-}
-
-expect "Superuser created successfully"
diff --git a/conf/opt/graphite/bin/django_admin_init.sh b/conf/opt/graphite/bin/django_admin_init.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..efcfbf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conf/opt/graphite/bin/django_admin_init.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+cat <<EOF | python3 /opt/graphite/bin/django-admin.py shell
+from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+
+User = get_user_model()  # get the currently active user model
+
+User.objects.filter(username='root').exists() or \
+    User.objects.create_superuser('root', 'root.graphite@mailinator.com', 'root')
+EOF
\ No newline at end of file