diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a3dd9f3b9..c6ec3f9fb 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -15,3 +15,4 @@ npm-debug.log
 .ep_initialized
 *.crt
 *.key
+bin/etherpad-1.deb
diff --git a/bin/deb-src/DEBIAN/preinst b/bin/deb-src/DEBIAN/preinst
index 51309ef46..e5b5e0b74 100755
--- a/bin/deb-src/DEBIAN/preinst
+++ b/bin/deb-src/DEBIAN/preinst
@@ -21,3 +21,6 @@ then
   tar xf node-v${VER}-linux-${ARCH}.tar.gz -C /tmp/
   cp -a /tmp/node-v${VER}-linux-${ARCH}/* /usr/local/
 fi
+
+# Create Etherpad user
+adduser --system etherpad