diff --git a/config/autoload/common.global.php b/config/autoload/common.global.php
index b35807fd..19404d8c 100644
--- a/config/autoload/common.global.php
+++ b/config/autoload/common.global.php
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ return [
 
     'debug' => false,
 
-    // Disabling config cache for cli, ensures it's never used for openswoole and also that console commands don't
-    // generate a cache file that's then used by non-openswoole web executions
+    // Disabling config cache for cli, ensures it's never used for openswoole/RoadRunner, and also that console
+    // commands don't generate a cache file that's then used by php-fpm web executions
     ConfigAggregator::ENABLE_CACHE => PHP_SAPI !== 'cli',
 
 ];
diff --git a/module/Core/src/Config/EnvVars.php b/module/Core/src/Config/EnvVars.php
index 7cbd0af4..228a5921 100644
--- a/module/Core/src/Config/EnvVars.php
+++ b/module/Core/src/Config/EnvVars.php
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ enum EnvVars: string
     case PORT = 'PORT';
     case TASK_WORKER_NUM = 'TASK_WORKER_NUM';
     case WEB_WORKER_NUM = 'WEB_WORKER_NUM';
+    case INITIAL_API_KEY = 'INITIAL_API_KEY';
     case ANONYMIZE_REMOTE_ADDR = 'ANONYMIZE_REMOTE_ADDR';
     case TRACK_ORPHAN_VISITS = 'TRACK_ORPHAN_VISITS';
     case DISABLE_TRACK_PARAM = 'DISABLE_TRACK_PARAM';
diff --git a/module/Rest/config/entities-mappings/Shlinkio.Shlink.Rest.Entity.ApiKey.php b/module/Rest/config/entities-mappings/Shlinkio.Shlink.Rest.Entity.ApiKey.php
index 63716e74..1e0b041b 100644
--- a/module/Rest/config/entities-mappings/Shlinkio.Shlink.Rest.Entity.ApiKey.php
+++ b/module/Rest/config/entities-mappings/Shlinkio.Shlink.Rest.Entity.ApiKey.php
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ use function Shlinkio\Shlink\Core\determineTableName;
 return static function (ClassMetadata $metadata, array $emConfig): void {
     $builder = new ClassMetadataBuilder($metadata);
 
-    $builder->setTable(determineTableName('api_keys', $emConfig));
+    $builder->setTable(determineTableName('api_keys', $emConfig))
+            ->setCustomRepositoryClass(ApiKey\Repository\ApiKeyRepository::class);
 
     $builder->createField('id', Types::BIGINT)
             ->makePrimaryKey()
diff --git a/module/Rest/config/initial-api-key.config.php b/module/Rest/config/initial-api-key.config.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..57114479
--- /dev/null
+++ b/module/Rest/config/initial-api-key.config.php
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Shlinkio\Shlink\Rest;
+
+use Mezzio\Application;
+use Shlinkio\Shlink\Core\Config\EnvVars;
+
+use const PHP_SAPI;
+
+return [
+
+    'initial_api_key' => PHP_SAPI !== 'cli' ? null : EnvVars::INITIAL_API_KEY->loadFromEnv(),
+
+    'dependencies' => [
+        'delegators' => [
+            Application::class => [
+                ApiKey\InitialApiKeyDelegator::class,
+            ],
+        ],
+    ],
+
+];
diff --git a/module/Rest/src/ApiKey/InitialApiKeyDelegator.php b/module/Rest/src/ApiKey/InitialApiKeyDelegator.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9129d7d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/module/Rest/src/ApiKey/InitialApiKeyDelegator.php
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Shlinkio\Shlink\Rest\ApiKey;
+
+use Doctrine\ORM\EntityManager;
+use Mezzio\Application;
+use Psr\Container\ContainerInterface;
+use Shlinkio\Shlink\Rest\ApiKey\Repository\ApiKeyRepositoryInterface;
+use Shlinkio\Shlink\Rest\Entity\ApiKey;
+
+class InitialApiKeyDelegator
+{
+    public function __invoke(ContainerInterface $container, string $serviceName, callable $callback): Application
+    {
+        $initialApiKey = $container->get('config')['initial_api_key'] ?? null;
+        if ($initialApiKey !== null) {
+            $this->createInitialApiKey($initialApiKey, $container);
+        }
+
+        return $callback();
+    }
+
+    private function createInitialApiKey(string $initialApiKey, ContainerInterface $container): void
+    {
+        /** @var ApiKeyRepositoryInterface $repo */
+        $repo = $container->get(EntityManager::class)->getRepository(ApiKey::class);
+        $repo->createInitialApiKey($initialApiKey);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/module/Rest/src/ApiKey/Repository/ApiKeyRepository.php b/module/Rest/src/ApiKey/Repository/ApiKeyRepository.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..098dda6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/module/Rest/src/ApiKey/Repository/ApiKeyRepository.php
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Shlinkio\Shlink\Rest\ApiKey\Repository;
+
+use Doctrine\DBAL\LockMode;
+use Happyr\DoctrineSpecification\Repository\EntitySpecificationRepository;
+use Shlinkio\Shlink\Rest\Entity\ApiKey;
+
+class ApiKeyRepository extends EntitySpecificationRepository implements ApiKeyRepositoryInterface
+{
+    public function createInitialApiKey(string $apiKey): void
+    {
+        $this->getEntityManager()->wrapInTransaction(function () use ($apiKey): void {
+            $qb = $this->getEntityManager()->createQueryBuilder();
+            $amountOfApiKeys = $qb->select('COUNT(a.id)')
+                                  ->from(ApiKey::class, 'a')
+                                  ->getQuery()
+                                  ->setLockMode(LockMode::PESSIMISTIC_WRITE)
+                                  ->getSingleScalarResult();
+
+            if ($amountOfApiKeys === 0) {
+                $this->getEntityManager()->persist(ApiKey::fromKey($apiKey));
+                $this->getEntityManager()->flush();
+            }
+        });
+    }
+}
diff --git a/module/Rest/src/ApiKey/Repository/ApiKeyRepositoryInterface.php b/module/Rest/src/ApiKey/Repository/ApiKeyRepositoryInterface.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f5beb3e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/module/Rest/src/ApiKey/Repository/ApiKeyRepositoryInterface.php
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Shlinkio\Shlink\Rest\ApiKey\Repository;
+
+use Doctrine\Persistence\ObjectRepository;
+use Happyr\DoctrineSpecification\Repository\EntitySpecificationRepositoryInterface;
+
+interface ApiKeyRepositoryInterface extends ObjectRepository, EntitySpecificationRepositoryInterface
+{
+    /**
+     * Will create provided API key only if there's no API keys yet
+     */
+    public function createInitialApiKey(string $apiKey): void;
+}
diff --git a/module/Rest/src/Entity/ApiKey.php b/module/Rest/src/Entity/ApiKey.php
index 261baee4..bcb173da 100644
--- a/module/Rest/src/Entity/ApiKey.php
+++ b/module/Rest/src/Entity/ApiKey.php
@@ -23,16 +23,14 @@ class ApiKey extends AbstractEntity
     private bool $enabled;
     /** @var Collection|ApiKeyRole[] */
     private Collection $roles;
-    private ?string $name;
+    private ?string $name = null;
 
     /**
      * @throws Exception
      */
-    private function __construct(?string $name = null, ?Chronos $expirationDate = null)
+    private function __construct(?string $key = null)
     {
-        $this->key = Uuid::uuid4()->toString();
-        $this->expirationDate = $expirationDate;
-        $this->name = $name;
+        $this->key = $key ?? Uuid::uuid4()->toString();
         $this->enabled = true;
         $this->roles = new ArrayCollection();
     }
@@ -44,7 +42,10 @@ class ApiKey extends AbstractEntity
 
     public static function fromMeta(ApiKeyMeta $meta): self
     {
-        $apiKey = new self($meta->name, $meta->expirationDate);
+        $apiKey = self::create();
+        $apiKey->name = $meta->name;
+        $apiKey->expirationDate = $meta->expirationDate;
+
         foreach ($meta->roleDefinitions as $roleDefinition) {
             $apiKey->registerRole($roleDefinition);
         }
@@ -52,6 +53,11 @@ class ApiKey extends AbstractEntity
         return $apiKey;
     }
 
+    public static function fromKey(string $key): self
+    {
+        return new self($key);
+    }
+
     public function getExpirationDate(): ?Chronos
     {
         return $this->expirationDate;
diff --git a/module/Rest/test/ConfigProviderTest.php b/module/Rest/test/ConfigProviderTest.php
index d3288151..06bf179f 100644
--- a/module/Rest/test/ConfigProviderTest.php
+++ b/module/Rest/test/ConfigProviderTest.php
@@ -22,10 +22,11 @@ class ConfigProviderTest extends TestCase
     {
         $config = ($this->configProvider)();
 
-        self::assertCount(4, $config);
+        self::assertCount(5, $config);
         self::assertArrayHasKey('dependencies', $config);
         self::assertArrayHasKey('auth', $config);
         self::assertArrayHasKey('entity_manager', $config);
+        self::assertArrayHasKey('initial_api_key', $config);
         self::assertArrayHasKey(ConfigAbstractFactory::class, $config);
     }