diff --git a/src/networking.c b/src/networking.c
index 07851a36..754f222d 100644
--- a/src/networking.c
+++ b/src/networking.c
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ client *createClient(int fd) {
     c->argc = 0;
     c->argv = NULL;
     c->cmd = c->lastcmd = NULL;
-    c->user = ACLGetUserByName("default",7);
+    c->user = DefaultUser;
     c->multibulklen = 0;
     c->bulklen = -1;
     c->sentlen = 0;
diff --git a/src/server.h b/src/server.h
index c0901939..a15e6cd9 100644
--- a/src/server.h
+++ b/src/server.h
@@ -1685,6 +1685,7 @@ void sendChildInfo(int process_type);
 void receiveChildInfo(void);
 
 /* acl.c -- Authentication related prototypes. */
+extern user *DefaultUser;
 void ACLInit(void);
 int ACLCheckUserCredentials(robj *username, robj *password);
 unsigned long ACLGetCommandID(const char *cmdname);