diff --git a/rhodecode/controllers/login.py b/rhodecode/controllers/login.py
--- a/rhodecode/controllers/login.py
+++ b/rhodecode/controllers/login.py
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ class LoginController(BaseController):
     @HasPermissionAnyDecorator('hg.admin', 'hg.register.auto_activate',
                                'hg.register.manual_activate')
     def register(self):
-        c.auto_active = 'hg.register.auto_activate' in User.get_by_username('default')\
+        c.auto_active = 'hg.register.auto_activate' in User.get_default_user()\
             .AuthUser.permissions['global']
 
         if request.POST: