diff --git a/ansible/roles/forgejo/tasks/main.yml b/ansible/roles/forgejo/tasks/main.yml
index 741f5d7..84eab20 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/forgejo/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/forgejo/tasks/main.yml
@@ -103,15 +103,7 @@
   until: web_ready.status == 200
   changed_when: false
 
-- name: Check if admin user exists
-  ansible.builtin.uri:
-    url: http://127.0.0.1:3000/api/v1/users/{{ forgejo_admin_user }}
-    method: GET
-    status_code: [200, 404]
-  register: admin_check
-  changed_when: false
-
-- name: Create admin user
+- name: Create admin user (first deploy only)
   ansible.builtin.command:
     cmd: >
       docker exec -u git -w /data/gitea forgejo forgejo admin user create
@@ -120,9 +112,7 @@
       --password {{ forgejo_admin_password }}
       --email {{ forgejo_admin_email }}
       --admin
-  when:
-    - forgejo_data_exists.stat.exists
-    - admin_check.status == 404
+  when: not forgejo_data_exists.stat.exists
   no_log: true
 
 - name: Create runner data directory