diff --git a/otterwiki/auth.py b/otterwiki/auth.py
index 71a1d22..9a0cb7d 100644
--- a/otterwiki/auth.py
+++ b/otterwiki/auth.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 from otterwiki.server import app, db
 from otterwiki.helper import toast, send_mail, serialize, deserialize, SerializeError
 from otterwiki.util import random_password, empty
-from otterwiki.models import TimeStamp
+from otterwiki.models import User as UserModel
 from datetime import datetime
 import hmac
 
@@ -39,33 +39,8 @@ def check_password_hash_backport(pwhash, password):
 
 
 class SimpleAuth:
-    # User Model
-    class User(UserMixin, db.Model):
-        id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
-        name = db.Column(db.String(128))
-        email = db.Column(db.String(128), index=True, unique=True)
-        password_hash = db.Column(db.String(512))
-        first_seen = db.Column(TimeStamp())
-        last_seen = db.Column(TimeStamp())
-        is_approved = db.Column(db.Boolean(), default=False)
-        is_admin = db.Column(db.Boolean(), default=False)
-        email_confirmed = db.Column(db.Boolean(), default=False)
-        allow_read = db.Column(db.Boolean(), default=False)
-        allow_write = db.Column(db.Boolean(), default=False)
-        allow_upload = db.Column(db.Boolean(), default=False)
-
-        def __repr__(self):
-            permissions = ""
-            if self.allow_read: permissions+="R"
-            if self.allow_write: permissions+="W"
-            if self.allow_upload: permissions+="U"
-            if self.is_admin: permissions+="A"
-            return f"<User {self.id} '{self.name} <{self.email}>' {permissions}>"
-
-    def __init__(self):
-        with app.app_context():
-            # create tables
-            db.create_all()
+    class User(UserMixin, UserModel):
+        pass
 
     def user_loader(self, id):
         return self.User.query.filter_by(id=int(id)).first()
diff --git a/otterwiki/models.py b/otterwiki/models.py
index 1a5a929..7e3ed38 100644
--- a/otterwiki/models.py
+++ b/otterwiki/models.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 __all__ = ['Preferences', 'Drafts']
 
+
 class TimeStamp(db.types.TypeDecorator):
     # thanks to https://mike.depalatis.net/blog/sqlalchemy-timestamps.html
     impl = db.types.DateTime
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ def process_result_value(self, value, dialect):
 
         return value.astimezone(UTC)
 
+
 class Preferences(db.Model):
     name = db.Column(db.String(256), primary_key=True)
     value = db.Column(db.Text)
@@ -29,6 +31,7 @@ class Preferences(db.Model):
     def __str__(self):
         return '{}: {}'.format(self.name, self.value)
 
+
 class Drafts(db.Model):
     id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
     pagepath = db.Column(db.String(2048), index=True)
@@ -40,3 +43,29 @@ class Drafts(db.Model):
     datetime = db.Column(TimeStamp())
 
 
+class User(db.Model):
+    __tablename__ = "user"
+    id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
+    name = db.Column(db.String(128))
+    email = db.Column(db.String(128), index=True, unique=True)
+    password_hash = db.Column(db.String(512))
+    first_seen = db.Column(TimeStamp())
+    last_seen = db.Column(TimeStamp())
+    is_approved = db.Column(db.Boolean(), default=False)
+    is_admin = db.Column(db.Boolean(), default=False)
+    email_confirmed = db.Column(db.Boolean(), default=False)
+    allow_read = db.Column(db.Boolean(), default=False)
+    allow_write = db.Column(db.Boolean(), default=False)
+    allow_upload = db.Column(db.Boolean(), default=False)
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        permissions = ""
+        if self.allow_read:
+            permissions += "R"
+        if self.allow_write:
+            permissions += "W"
+        if self.allow_upload:
+            permissions += "U"
+        if self.is_admin:
+            permissions += "A"
+        return f"<User {self.id} '{self.name} <{self.email}>' {permissions}>"