diff --git a/scripts/setup/configure-rabbitmq b/scripts/setup/configure-rabbitmq
index e9ea28b008..0e7711dd01 100755
--- a/scripts/setup/configure-rabbitmq
+++ b/scripts/setup/configure-rabbitmq
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ set -eu
 
 RABBITMQ_USERNAME=$("$(dirname "$0")/../get-django-setting" RABBITMQ_USERNAME)
 RABBITMQ_PASSWORD=$("$(dirname "$0")/../get-django-setting" RABBITMQ_PASSWORD)
+RABBITMQ_VHOST=$("$(dirname "$0")/../get-django-setting" RABBITMQ_VHOST)
 
 rabbitmqctl await_startup
 rabbitmqctl delete_user "$RABBITMQ_USERNAME" || true
@@ -17,4 +18,7 @@ rabbitmqctl delete_user zulip || true
 rabbitmqctl delete_user guest || true
 rabbitmqctl add_user "$RABBITMQ_USERNAME" "$RABBITMQ_PASSWORD"
 rabbitmqctl set_user_tags "$RABBITMQ_USERNAME" administrator
-rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p / "$RABBITMQ_USERNAME" '.*' '.*' '.*'
+if ! rabbitmqctl list_vhosts --no-table-headers --quiet | grep -qx "$RABBITMQ_VHOST"; then
+    rabbitmqcql add_vhost "$RABBITMQ_VHOST"
+fi
+rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p "$RABBITMQ_VHOST" "$RABBITMQ_USERNAME" '.*' '.*' '.*'
diff --git a/zerver/lib/queue.py b/zerver/lib/queue.py
index 0aee5cd12e..e7966733ef 100644
--- a/zerver/lib/queue.py
+++ b/zerver/lib/queue.py
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ class QueueClient(Generic[ChannelT], metaclass=ABCMeta):
         return pika.ConnectionParameters(
             settings.RABBITMQ_HOST,
             port=settings.RABBITMQ_PORT,
+            virtual_host=settings.RABBITMQ_VHOST,
             heartbeat=self.rabbitmq_heartbeat,
             tcp_options=tcp_options,
             ssl_options=ssl_options,
diff --git a/zproject/default_settings.py b/zproject/default_settings.py
index 651b79087d..303e3c8550 100644
--- a/zproject/default_settings.py
+++ b/zproject/default_settings.py
@@ -191,6 +191,7 @@ MEMCACHED_LOCATION = "127.0.0.1:11211"
 MEMCACHED_USERNAME = None if get_secret("memcached_password") is None else "zulip@localhost"
 RABBITMQ_HOST = "127.0.0.1"
 RABBITMQ_PORT = 5672
+RABBITMQ_VHOST = "/"
 RABBITMQ_USERNAME = "zulip"
 RABBITMQ_USE_TLS = False
 REDIS_HOST = "127.0.0.1"
diff --git a/zproject/prod_settings_template.py b/zproject/prod_settings_template.py
index d1fcc9be2d..63d3c0408b 100644
--- a/zproject/prod_settings_template.py
+++ b/zproject/prod_settings_template.py
@@ -606,6 +606,8 @@ SOCIAL_AUTH_SAML_SUPPORT_CONTACT = {
 ## optionally RABBITMQ_PORT, to the hostname and port here.
 # RABBITMQ_HOST = "127.0.0.1"
 # RABBITMQ_PORT = 5672
+## To use a different RabbitMQ "virtual host", adjust this.
+# RABBITMQ_VHOST = "/"
 ## To use another RabbitMQ user than the default "zulip", set RABBITMQ_USERNAME here.
 # RABBITMQ_USERNAME = "zulip"
 ## To access the RabbitMQ server over TLS, set this to True; this is