diff --git a/CHANGES/417.feature b/CHANGES/417.feature
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8ff26406
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGES/417.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Added logic for ``PULP_DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD`` to the pulp-minimal startup scripts.
diff --git a/images/assets/pulp-api b/images/assets/pulp-api
index 9d165496..655d4ea5 100755
--- a/images/assets/pulp-api
+++ b/images/assets/pulp-api
@@ -20,14 +20,23 @@ if [ -n "${PULP_SIGNING_KEY_FINGERPRINT}" ]; then
     /usr/local/bin/pulpcore-manager add-signing-service "${CONTAINER_SIGNING_SERVICE}" /var/lib/pulp/scripts/container_sign.sh "${PULP_SIGNING_KEY_FINGERPRINT}" --class container:ManifestSigningService
 fi
 
-ADMIN_PASSWORD_FILE=/etc/pulp/pulp-admin-password
-if [[ -f "$ADMIN_PASSWORD_FILE" ]]; then
-   echo "pulp admin can be initialized."
-   PULP_ADMIN_PASSWORD=$(cat $ADMIN_PASSWORD_FILE)
-fi
-
-if [ -n "${PULP_ADMIN_PASSWORD}" ]; then
-    /usr/local/bin/pulpcore-manager reset-admin-password --password "${PULP_ADMIN_PASSWORD}"
+if [[ -n "$PULP_DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD" ]]
+then
+  PASSWORD_SET=$(/usr/local/bin/pulpcore-manager shell -c "from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model; print(get_user_model().objects.filter(username=\"admin\").exists())")
+  if [ "$PASSWORD_SET" = "False" ]
+  then
+    /usr/local/bin/pulpcore-manager reset-admin-password --password "${PULP_DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD}"
+  fi
+else
+  ADMIN_PASSWORD_FILE=/etc/pulp/pulp-admin-password
+  if [[ -f "$ADMIN_PASSWORD_FILE" ]]; then
+     echo "pulp admin can be initialized."
+     PULP_ADMIN_PASSWORD=$(cat $ADMIN_PASSWORD_FILE)
+  fi
+
+  if [ -n "${PULP_ADMIN_PASSWORD}" ]; then
+      /usr/local/bin/pulpcore-manager reset-admin-password --password "${PULP_ADMIN_PASSWORD}"
+  fi
 fi
 set -x
 
diff --git a/images/compose/compose.folders.yml b/images/compose/compose.folders.yml
index 1530b890..4b16e8aa 100644
--- a/images/compose/compose.folders.yml
+++ b/images/compose/compose.folders.yml
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ services:
       - "./assets/certs:/etc/pulp/certs:z"
       - "../../pulp_storage:/var/lib/pulp:z"
     environment:
-      PULP_ADMIN_PASSWORD: password
+      PULP_DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD: password
 
   pulp_content:
     image: "pulp/pulp-minimal:latest"
diff --git a/images/compose/compose.yml b/images/compose/compose.yml
index 5b0a99d6..40c93161 100644
--- a/images/compose/compose.yml
+++ b/images/compose/compose.yml
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ services:
       - "./assets/certs:/etc/pulp/certs:z"
       - "pulp:/var/lib/pulp"
     environment:
-      PULP_ADMIN_PASSWORD: password
+      PULP_DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD: password
     restart: always
 
   pulp_content: