diff --git a/Documentation/Getting-Started/Configuration-Guide.md b/Documentation/Getting-Started/Configuration-Guide.md
index 976e150f4..18c5bf87b 100644
--- a/Documentation/Getting-Started/Configuration-Guide.md
+++ b/Documentation/Getting-Started/Configuration-Guide.md
@@ -544,17 +544,9 @@ Enable HTTP admin interface authentication using HTTP Basic Access
 authentication. This is not a secure method of authentication but it does add a
 small layer of security. This option is disabled by default.
 
-#### `admin_user`
-
-The HTTP admin interface username. This is the username which is used when
-_admin_auth_ is enabled. The default user for the HTTP admin interface is
-`admin`.
-
-#### `admin_password`
-
-The HTTP admin interface password. This is the which which is used when
-_admin_auth_ is enabled. The default password for the HTTP admin interface is
-`mariadb`.
+The admin interface authentication uses the same user as MaxAdmin network
+interface. This means that new users can be added with both MaxAdmin and the
+REST API. The default credentials for the interface are `admin:mariadb`.
 
 #### `admin_ssl_key`
 
diff --git a/include/maxscale/config.h b/include/maxscale/config.h
index d1d664121..2bb06b426 100644
--- a/include/maxscale/config.h
+++ b/include/maxscale/config.h
@@ -193,8 +193,6 @@ typedef struct
     bool          skip_permission_checks;              /**< Skip service and monitor permission checks */
     char          qc_name[PATH_MAX];                   /**< The name of the query classifier to load */
     char*         qc_args;                             /**< Arguments for the query classifier */
-    char          admin_user[MAX_ADMIN_USER_LEN];      /**< Admin interface user */
-    char          admin_password[MAX_ADMIN_PW_LEN];    /**< Admin interface password */
     char          admin_host[MAX_ADMIN_HOST_LEN];      /**< Admin interface host */
     uint16_t      admin_port;                          /**< Admin interface port */
     bool          admin_auth;                          /**< Admin interface authentication */
diff --git a/server/core/admin.cc b/server/core/admin.cc
index 2ff66894a..7b48913d8 100644
--- a/server/core/admin.cc
+++ b/server/core/admin.cc
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include <maxscale/config.h>
 #include <maxscale/hk_heartbeat.h>
 #include <maxscale/http.hh>
+#include <maxscale/adminusers.h>
 
 #include "maxscale/resource.hh"
 
@@ -152,24 +153,25 @@ void close_client(void *cls,
 
 bool do_auth(MHD_Connection *connection)
 {
-    const char *admin_user = config_get_global_options()->admin_user;
-    const char *admin_pw = config_get_global_options()->admin_password;
     bool admin_auth = config_get_global_options()->admin_auth;
 
     char* pw = NULL;
     char* user = MHD_basic_auth_get_username_password(connection, &pw);
     bool rval = true;
 
-    if (admin_auth && (!user || !pw || strcmp(user, admin_user) || strcmp(pw, admin_pw)))
+    if (admin_auth)
     {
-        rval = false;
-        static char error_resp[] = "Access denied\r\n";
-        MHD_Response *resp =
-            MHD_create_response_from_buffer(sizeof(error_resp) - 1, error_resp,
-                                            MHD_RESPMEM_PERSISTENT);
+        if (!user || !pw || !admin_verify_inet_user(user, pw))
+        {
+            rval = false;
+            static char error_resp[] = "{\"errors\": [ { \"detail\": \"Access denied\" } ] }";
+            MHD_Response *resp =
+                MHD_create_response_from_buffer(sizeof(error_resp) - 1, error_resp,
+                                                MHD_RESPMEM_PERSISTENT);
 
-        MHD_queue_basic_auth_fail_response(connection, "maxscale", resp);
-        MHD_destroy_response(resp);
+            MHD_queue_basic_auth_fail_response(connection, "maxscale", resp);
+            MHD_destroy_response(resp);
+        }
     }
 
     return rval;
diff --git a/server/core/config.cc b/server/core/config.cc
index 6f8e444aa..16220f548 100644
--- a/server/core/config.cc
+++ b/server/core/config.cc
@@ -1524,14 +1524,6 @@ handle_global_item(const char *name, const char *value)
             MXS_FREE(v);
         }
     }
-    else if (strcmp(name, CN_ADMIN_USER) == 0)
-    {
-        strcpy(gateway.admin_user, value);
-    }
-    else if (strcmp(name, CN_ADMIN_PASSWORD) == 0)
-    {
-        strcpy(gateway.admin_password, value);
-    }
     else if (strcmp(name, CN_ADMIN_PORT) == 0)
     {
         gateway.admin_port = atoi(value);
@@ -1784,8 +1776,6 @@ global_defaults()
     gateway.admin_auth = false;
     gateway.admin_enabled = true;
     strcpy(gateway.admin_host, DEFAULT_ADMIN_HOST);
-    strcpy(gateway.admin_user, INET_DEFAULT_USERNAME);
-    strcpy(gateway.admin_password, INET_DEFAULT_PASSWORD);
     gateway.admin_ssl_key[0] = '\0';
     gateway.admin_ssl_cert[0] = '\0';
     gateway.admin_ssl_ca_cert[0] = '\0';