diff --git a/zerver/lib/queue.py b/zerver/lib/queue.py
index a4da11a564..45c85562a4 100644
--- a/zerver/lib/queue.py
+++ b/zerver/lib/queue.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ class SimpleQueueClient(object):
     def _get_parameters(self):
         return pika.ConnectionParameters('localhost',
             credentials = pika.PlainCredentials(
-                'humbug', settings.RABBITMQ_PASSWORD))
+                settings.RABBITMQ_USERNAME, settings.RABBITMQ_PASSWORD))
 
     def _generate_ctag(self, queue_name):
         return "%s_%s" % (queue_name, str(random.getrandbits(16)))
diff --git a/zproject/settings.py b/zproject/settings.py
index 34c5f1c1bb..512553884f 100644
--- a/zproject/settings.py
+++ b/zproject/settings.py
@@ -446,6 +446,7 @@ PIPELINE_YUI_BINARY     = '/usr/bin/env yui-compressor'
 
 
 USING_RABBITMQ = DEPLOYED
+RABBITMQ_USERNAME = 'humbug'
 
 SESSION_ENGINE = "django.contrib.sessions.backends.cached_db"