diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 022517b16121b13ac3a34651cf4afc73c49e9c26..89c4bec44098cc825827065b83c962c0b818cfb6 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ RUN mkdir /app/logs /app/project_data
 WORKDIR /app/gracedb_project
 RUN DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=${SETTINGS_MODULE} \
     DJANGO_DB_NAME=fake_name \
+    DJANGO_DB_USER=fake_user \
     DJANGO_DB_PASSWORD=fake_password \
     DJANGO_SECRET_KEY=fake_key \
     DJANGO_PRIMARY_FQDN=fake_fqdn \
diff --git a/config/settings/container/base.py b/config/settings/container/base.py
index d280da51ac99f55f6205e5ab89a0d26add4105cb..e98885fca996fb78d8b88c64366c7adfbb73ac5a 100644
--- a/config/settings/container/base.py
+++ b/config/settings/container/base.py
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 # For running a containerized version of the service that gets secrets
 # from environment variables. Builds on base.py settings.
-
 import os
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from ..base import *
 
 # Get required variables from environment variables ---------------------------
+# Get database user from environment and check
+db_user = os.environ.get('DJANGO_DB_USER', None)
+if db_user is None:
+    raise ImproperlyConfigured('Could not get database user from envvars.')
+
 # Get database password from environment and check
 db_password = os.environ.get('DJANGO_DB_PASSWORD', None)
 if db_password is None:
@@ -72,7 +76,7 @@ DATABASES = {
     'default' : {
         'NAME': db_name,
         'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.mysql',
-        'USER': os.environ.get('DJANGO_DB_USER', 'gracedb'),
+        'USER': db_user,
         'PASSWORD': db_password,
         'HOST': os.environ.get('DJANGO_DB_HOST', ''),
         'PORT': os.environ.get('DJANGO_DB_PORT', ''),
diff --git a/config/settings/container/dev.py b/config/settings/container/dev.py
index cf1447dfef7f1966843438b64fabd1a2b440848f..cec44196814f03625b81a9d10cf9bc418e2713a0 100644
--- a/config/settings/container/dev.py
+++ b/config/settings/container/dev.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # Settings for a test/dev GraceDB instance running in a container
-#import socket
 from .base import *
 
 CONFIG_NAME = "TEST"
diff --git a/config/settings/container/production.py b/config/settings/container/production.py
index d12ab745a1e32cb8f40a5ac6baf6f14dc283f9c2..4d4e5abfde00db8b1e202ac23d6634f82138051d 100644
--- a/config/settings/container/production.py
+++ b/config/settings/container/production.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # Settings for a production GraceDB instance running in a container
-import copy
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from .base import *
 
@@ -35,6 +34,10 @@ else:
     if replica_db_name is None:
         raise ImproperlyConfigured('Could not get replica database name from '
             'envvars.')
+    replica_db_user = os.environ.get('DJANGO_REPLICA_DB_USER', None)
+    if replica_db_user is None:
+        raise ImproperlyConfigured('Could not get replica database user '
+            'from envvars.')
     replica_db_password = os.environ.get('DJANGO_REPLICA_DB_PASSWORD', None)
     if replica_db_password is None:
         raise ImproperlyConfigured('Could not get replica database password '
@@ -44,7 +47,7 @@ else:
     read_replica = {
         'NAME': replica_db_name,
         'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.mysql',
-        'USER': os.environ.get('DJANGO_REPLICA_DB_USER', 'gracedb'),
+        'USER': replica_db_user,
         'PASSWORD': replica_db_password,
         'HOST': os.environ.get('DJANGO_REPLICA_DB_HOST', ''),
         'PORT': os.environ.get('DJANGO_REPLICA_DB_PORT', ''),