diff --git a/backend/README.md b/backend/README.md
index d668c5f90..db7224690 100644
--- a/backend/README.md
+++ b/backend/README.md
@@ -36,13 +36,22 @@ python manage.py runserver localhost:8000
 
 - Server will start and run at port 8000. (<http://localhost:8000>)
   
-## Default Username and Password
+## Setting Username and Password
 
 The default username is `unstract` and the default password is `unstract`.
 
-To customize your password, simply navigate to the `.env` file and update the `DEFAULT_AUTH_PASSWORD` config before launching the server. Then use your new password to log in.
+To customize your username or password:
+1. Navigate to the `.env` file located at `backend`.
+2. Update the values for `DEFAULT_AUTH_USERNAME` and `DEFAULT_AUTH_PASSWORD` with strong, unique credentials of your choosing.
+3. Save the `.env` file and restart the server to apply changes.
+
+> **NOTE**: The username `admin` is reserved for Django admin, hence cannot be used.
+
+To update the username or password after it's been set:
+1. Modify the username and password in `.env`.
+2. Restart server to apply updates.
+3. Login with the new credentials.
 
-To update the password after it's been set, first change it in the .env file, restart the server for it to take effect, then log in using the new password.
 
 ## Asynchronous execution/pipeline execution
 
diff --git a/backend/account/authentication_service.py b/backend/account/authentication_service.py
index 2484571e9..d37ed473a 100644
--- a/backend/account/authentication_service.py
+++ b/backend/account/authentication_service.py
@@ -82,6 +82,9 @@ def authenticate_and_login(
         """
         user = authenticate(request, username=username, password=password)
         if user:
+            # To avoid conflicts with django superuser
+            if user.is_superuser:
+                return False
             login(request, user)
             return True
         # Attempt to initiate default user and authenticate again
diff --git a/backend/account/constants.py b/backend/account/constants.py
index 34c9a7726..ec246a361 100644
--- a/backend/account/constants.py
+++ b/backend/account/constants.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class ErrorMessage:
 class DefaultOrg:
     ORGANIZATION_NAME = "mock_org"
     MOCK_ORG = "mock_org"
-    MOCK_USER = "unstract"
+    MOCK_USER = settings.DEFAULT_AUTH_USERNAME
     MOCK_USER_ID = "mock_user_id"
     MOCK_USER_EMAIL = "email@mock.com"
     MOCK_USER_PASSWORD = settings.DEFAULT_AUTH_PASSWORD
diff --git a/backend/backend/settings/base.py b/backend/backend/settings/base.py
index c26883d41..555c33ba4 100644
--- a/backend/backend/settings/base.py
+++ b/backend/backend/settings/base.py
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ def get_required_setting(
 API_STORAGE_DIR = os.environ.get("API_STORAGE_DIR")
 CACHE_TTL_SEC = os.environ.get("CACHE_TTL_SEC", 10800)
 
+DEFAULT_AUTH_USERNAME = os.environ.get("DEFAULT_AUTH_USERNAME", "unstract")
 DEFAULT_AUTH_PASSWORD = os.environ.get("DEFAULT_AUTH_PASSWORD", "unstract")
 
 # Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
diff --git a/backend/sample.env b/backend/sample.env
index 9da40eeb5..ca94823e9 100644
--- a/backend/sample.env
+++ b/backend/sample.env
@@ -108,5 +108,6 @@ ENCRYPTION_KEY="Sample-Key"
 # Cache TTL
 CACHE_TTL_SEC=10800
 
-# Default user
+# Default auth credentials
+DEFAULT_AUTH_USERNAME=
 DEFAULT_AUTH_PASSWORD=
diff --git a/run-platform.sh b/run-platform.sh
index 6ed3519f9..ad2dd2232 100755
--- a/run-platform.sh
+++ b/run-platform.sh
@@ -102,6 +102,8 @@ parse_args() {
 setup_env() {
   # Generate Fernet Key. Refer https://pypi.org/project/cryptography/. for both backend and platform-service.
   ENCRYPTION_KEY=$(python3 -c "import secrets, base64; print(base64.urlsafe_b64encode(secrets.token_bytes(32)).decode())")
+  DEFAULT_AUTH_KEY="unstract"
+  
   for service in "${services[@]}"; do
     sample_env_path="$script_dir/$service/sample.env"
     env_path="$script_dir/$service/.env"
@@ -113,6 +115,12 @@ setup_env() {
         echo -e "$blue_text""Adding encryption secret to $service""$default_text"
         echo "ENCRYPTION_KEY=\"$ENCRYPTION_KEY\"" >> $env_path
       fi
+      # Add default auth credentials for backend.
+      if [ "$service" == "backend" ]; then
+        echo -e "$blue_text""Adding default auth credentials to $service""$default_text"
+        echo "DEFAULT_AUTH_USERNAME=\"$DEFAULT_AUTH_KEY\"" >> $env_path
+        echo "DEFAULT_AUTH_PASSWORD=\"$DEFAULT_AUTH_KEY\"" >> $env_path
+      fi
       echo -e "Created env for ""$blue_text""$service""$default_text" at ""$blue_text""$env_path""$default_text"."
     else
       echo -e "Found existing env for ""$blue_text""$service""$default_text" at ""$blue_text""$env_path""$default_text"."