diff --git a/classes/User.php b/classes/User.php
index 041c64c38f..8a3190cbf2 100644
--- a/classes/User.php
+++ b/classes/User.php
@@ -928,6 +928,38 @@ class User extends Memcached_DataObject
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * This is kind of a hack for using external setup code that's trying to
+     * build single-user sites.
+     *
+     * Will still return a username if the config singleuser/nickname is set
+     * even if the account doesn't exist, which normally indicates that the
+     * site is horribly misconfigured.
+     *
+     * At the moment, we need to let it through so that router setup can
+     * complete, otherwise we won't be able to create the account.
+     *
+     * This will be easier when we can more easily create the account and
+     * *then* switch the site to 1user mode without jumping through hoops.
+     *
+     * @return string
+     * @throws ServerException if no valid single user account is present
+     * @throws ServerException if called when not in single-user mode
+     */
+    static function singleUserNickname()
+    {
+        try {
+            $user = User::singleUser();
+            return $user->nickname;
+        } catch (Exception $e) {
+            if (common_config('singleuser', 'enabled') && common_config('singleuser', 'nickname')) {
+                common_log(LOG_WARN, "Warning: code attempting to pull single-user nickname when the account does not exist. If this is not setup time, this is probably a bug.");
+                return common_config('singleuser', 'nickname');
+            }
+            throw $e;
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Find and shorten links in the given text using this user's URL shortening
      * settings.
diff --git a/lib/router.php b/lib/router.php
index a0ea996ecf..8670519ff4 100644
--- a/lib/router.php
+++ b/lib/router.php
@@ -798,8 +798,7 @@ class Router
 
             if (common_config('singleuser', 'enabled')) {
 
-                $user = User::singleUser();
-                $nickname = $user->nickname;
+                $nickname = User::singleUserNickname();
 
                 foreach (array('subscriptions', 'subscribers',
                                'all', 'foaf', 'xrds',
diff --git a/lib/util.php b/lib/util.php
index 26b20b5e11..da36121ffd 100644
--- a/lib/util.php
+++ b/lib/util.php
@@ -1075,9 +1075,9 @@ function common_tag_link($tag)
     $canonical = common_canonical_tag($tag);
     if (common_config('singleuser', 'enabled')) {
         // regular TagAction isn't set up in 1user mode
-        $user = User::singleUser();
+        $nickname = User::singleUserNickname();
         $url = common_local_url('showstream',
-                                array('nickname' => $user->nickname,
+                                array('nickname' => $nickname,
                                       'tag' => $canonical));
     } else {
         $url = common_local_url('tag', array('tag' => $canonical));