diff --git a/ci-operator/config/quay/quay-operator/quay-quay-operator-master__ocp-latest.yaml b/ci-operator/config/quay/quay-operator/quay-quay-operator-master__ocp-latest.yaml
index c1467e524f0ba..e63ea5e0f5e8f 100644
--- a/ci-operator/config/quay/quay-operator/quay-quay-operator-master__ocp-latest.yaml
+++ b/ci-operator/config/quay/quay-operator/quay-quay-operator-master__ocp-latest.yaml
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ tests:
     dependencies:
       OO_INDEX: ci-index-quay
     env:
-      COMPUTE_NODE_TYPE: m5.2xlarge
+      COMPUTE_NODE_TYPE: m5.4xlarge
       OO_CHANNEL: alpha
       OO_INSTALL_NAMESPACE: '!create'
       OO_PACKAGE: quay-operator
@@ -70,7 +70,30 @@ tests:
     - ref: quay-install-odf-operator
     - ref: optional-operators-subscribe
     - ref: quay-install-quay
-    - ref: quay-create-admin
+    - as: quay-create-admin
+      commands: |
+        set -euo pipefail
+
+        echo "Getting Quay registry endpoint..." >&2
+        registryEndpoint="$(oc -n quay get quayregistry quay -o jsonpath='{.status.registryEndpoint}')"
+
+        echo "Creating admin user via initialization API..." >&2
+        response="$(curl -sk --retry 30 --retry-delay 10 --retry-all-errors \
+          -X POST "$registryEndpoint/api/v1/user/initialize" \
+          --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+          --data '{"username": "admin", "password": "p@ssw0rd", "email": "admin@localhost.local", "access_token": false}')"
+
+        if echo "$response" | grep -q '"username"'; then
+          echo "Admin user created successfully" >&2
+        else
+          echo "Failed to create admin user: $response" >&2
+          exit 1
+        fi
+      from: cli
+      resources:
+        requests:
+          cpu: 100m
+          memory: 200Mi
     test:
     - as: tests
       commands: |
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/quay/install-quay/quay-install-quay-commands.sh b/ci-operator/step-registry/quay/install-quay/quay-install-quay-commands.sh
index f1b60173f5823..6dab88f5c317d 100755
--- a/ci-operator/step-registry/quay/install-quay/quay-install-quay-commands.sh
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/quay/install-quay/quay-install-quay-commands.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ EOF
 echo "Waiting for NooBaa storage..." >&2
 oc -n openshift-storage wait noobaa.noobaa.io/noobaa --for=condition=Available --timeout=120s
 
-echo "Creating Quay registry..." >&2
+echo "Creating Quay namespace and config bundle..." >&2
 cat <<EOF | oc apply -f -
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
@@ -45,6 +45,20 @@ metadata:
   name: quay
 EOF
 
+cat <<EOF | oc apply -f -
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Secret
+metadata:
+  name: config-bundle-secret
+  namespace: quay
+stringData:
+  config.yaml: |
+    FEATURE_USER_INITIALIZE: true
+    SUPER_USERS:
+    - admin
+EOF
+
+echo "Creating Quay registry with config bundle..." >&2
 cat <<EOF | oc apply -f -
 apiVersion: quay.redhat.com/v1
 kind: QuayRegistry
@@ -52,6 +66,7 @@ metadata:
   name: quay
   namespace: quay
 spec:
+  configBundleSecret: config-bundle-secret
   components:
   - kind: clair
     managed: true