diff --git a/pkg/user/is_admin_test.go b/pkg/user/is_admin_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2d49ba3d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/user/is_admin_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+// Vikunja is a to-do list application to facilitate your life.
+// Copyright 2018-present Vikunja and contributors. All rights reserved.
+//
+// This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+// along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package user
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"code.vikunja.io/api/pkg/db"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestUser_IsAdminField(t *testing.T) {
+	db.LoadAndAssertFixtures(t)
+	s := db.NewSession()
+	defer s.Close()
+
+	u := &User{ID: 1}
+	_, err := s.Get(u)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.False(t, u.IsAdmin, "fixture user 1 should not be admin by default")
+}
diff --git a/pkg/user/user.go b/pkg/user/user.go
index e4032d233..8127193ef 100644
--- a/pkg/user/user.go
+++ b/pkg/user/user.go
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ type User struct {
 
 	Status Status `xorm:"default 0" json:"-"`
 
+	// Whether this user is a site-wide admin. Managed via CLI only.
+	IsAdmin bool `xorm:"not null default false" json:"-"`
+
 	AvatarProvider string `xorm:"varchar(255) null" json:"-"`
 	AvatarFileID   int64  `xorm:"null" json:"-"`