diff --git a/qswiki.cpp b/qswiki.cpp
index c14a584..b287a77 100644
--- a/qswiki.cpp
+++ b/qswiki.cpp
@@ -85,12 +85,23 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		logstream.open(config.logfile, std::fstream::out | std::fstream::app);
 		Logger::setStream(&logstream);
 
-		User anon;
-		anon.login = config.anon_username;
-		anon.permissions = config.anon_permissions;
-		User::setAnon(anon);
-
 		auto database = createDatabase(config);
+
+		// TODO: quite ugly, anon-handling must be rethought
+		auto userdao = database->createUserDao();
+		std::optional<User> anon = userdao->find(config.anon_username);
+		if(!anon)
+		{
+			throw std::runtime_error("No such anon user in database");
+		}
+		if(!anon->enabled)
+		{
+			throw std::runtime_error("Anon user cannot be enabled");
+		}
+		anon->permissions = config.anon_permissions;
+		userdao->save(anon.value());
+		User::setAnon(anon.value());
+
 		Template siteTemplate{config};
 		UrlProvider urlprovider{config};