diff --git a/packages/node_modules/pouchdb-auth/lib/sessionapi.js b/packages/node_modules/pouchdb-auth/lib/sessionapi.js
index ea7acecb..44a8ca6a 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/pouchdb-auth/lib/sessionapi.js
+++ b/packages/node_modules/pouchdb-auth/lib/sessionapi.js
@@ -146,23 +146,31 @@ exports.multiUserLogIn = function (username, password, callback) {
 function getUserDoc(db, username) {
   var info = utils.dbDataFor(db);
 
-  var userDoc = info.admins[username];
-  return Promise.resolve().then(function () {
-    if (typeof userDoc === "undefined") {
-      return db.get(docId(username), {conflicts: true});
-    }
-    return userDoc;
-  }).then(function (doc) {
-    if ((doc._conflicts || {}).length) {
-      throw new PouchPluginError({
-        status: 401,
-        name: 'unauthorized',
-        message: "User document conflicts must be resolved before" +
-          "the document is used for authentication purposes."
-      });
-    }
-    return doc
-  });
+  var adminDoc = info.admins[username];
+  return db.get(docId(username), {conflicts: true})
+    .catch(function (err) {
+      if (err.name != 'not_found' || typeof adminDoc === 'undefined') {
+        throw err;
+      }
+    })
+    .then(function (userDoc) {
+      if (typeof userDoc !== 'undefined') {
+        if ((userDoc._conflicts || {}).length) {
+          throw new PouchPluginError({
+            status: 401,
+            name: 'unauthorized',
+            message: "User document conflicts must be resolved before" +
+              "the document is used for authentication purposes."
+          });
+        }
+        if (typeof adminDoc === 'undefined') {
+          return userDoc;
+        }
+        adminDoc = Object.assign({}, adminDoc);
+        adminDoc.roles = ['_admin'].concat(userDoc.roles);
+      }
+      return adminDoc;
+    })
 }
 
 function newSessionId(userDoc, info) {