diff --git a/owrxadmin/__main__.py b/owrxadmin/__main__.py
index f92233c..36f7b6e 100644
--- a/owrxadmin/__main__.py
+++ b/owrxadmin/__main__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from owrx.version import openwebrx_version
-from owrxadmin.commands import NewUser, DeleteUser, ResetPassword, ListUsers, DisableUser, EnableUser
+from owrxadmin.commands import NewUser, DeleteUser, ResetPassword, ListUsers, DisableUser, EnableUser, HasUser
 import argparse
 import sys
 import traceback
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ def main():
     enableuser_parser.add_argument("user", help="Username to be enabled")
     enableuser_parser.set_defaults(cls=EnableUser)
 
+    hasuser_parser = subparsers.add_parser("hasuser", help="Test if a user exists")
+    hasuser_parser.add_argument("user", help="Username to be checked")
+    hasuser_parser.set_defaults(cls=HasUser)
+
     parser.add_argument("-v", "--version", action="store_true", help="Show the software version")
     parser.add_argument(
         "--noninteractive", action="store_true", help="Don't ask for any user input (useful for automation)"
diff --git a/owrxadmin/commands.py b/owrxadmin/commands.py
index 69aad1d..8eca85e 100644
--- a/owrxadmin/commands.py
+++ b/owrxadmin/commands.py
@@ -97,3 +97,19 @@ class ListUsers(Command):
         for u in userList.values():
             if args.all or u.enabled:
                 print("  {name}".format(name=u.name))
+
+
+class HasUser(Command):
+    """
+    internal command used by the debian config scripts to test if the admin user has already been created
+    """
+    def run(self, args):
+        userList = UserList()
+        if args.user in userList:
+            if not args.silent:
+                print('User "{name}" exists.'.format(name=args.user))
+        else:
+            if not args.silent:
+                print('User "{name}" does not exist.'.format(name=args.user))
+            # in bash, a return code > 0 is interpreted as "false"
+            sys.exit(1)