diff --git a/doc/source/authentication.rst b/doc/source/authentication.rst
index 02f2f4431e..d6f5c63992 100644
--- a/doc/source/authentication.rst
+++ b/doc/source/authentication.rst
@@ -157,6 +157,12 @@ configuration file, select the appropriate deployment flavor by adding a
   [paste_deploy]
   flavor = keystone
 
+.. note::
+  If your authentication service uses a role other than ``admin`` to identify
+  which users should be granted admin-level privileges, you must define it
+  in the ``admin_role`` config attribute in both ``glance-registry.conf`` and
+  ``glance-api.conf``.
+
 Sharing Images With Others
 --------------------------
 
diff --git a/etc/glance-api.conf b/etc/glance-api.conf
index f516788893..90803a7423 100644
--- a/etc/glance-api.conf
+++ b/etc/glance-api.conf
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ backlog = 4096
 # this value to the number of CPUs present on your machine.
 workers = 0
 
+# Role used to identify an authenticated user as administrator
+#admin_role = admin
+
 # ================= Syslog Options ============================
 
 # Send logs to syslog (/dev/log) instead of to file specified
diff --git a/etc/glance-registry.conf b/etc/glance-registry.conf
index ec4c5f0904..8597411d57 100644
--- a/etc/glance-registry.conf
+++ b/etc/glance-registry.conf
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ api_limit_max = 1000
 # default to `limit_param_default`
 limit_param_default = 25
 
+# Role used to identify an authenticated user as administrator
+#admin_role = admin
+
 # ================= Syslog Options ============================
 
 # Send logs to syslog (/dev/log) instead of to file specified
diff --git a/glance/common/context.py b/glance/common/context.py
index aaaf6a4afa..7382b30ed4 100644
--- a/glance/common/context.py
+++ b/glance/common/context.py
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ class ContextMiddleware(wsgi.Middleware):
 
     opts = [
         cfg.BoolOpt('owner_is_tenant', default=True),
+        cfg.StrOpt('admin_role', default='admin'),
         ]
 
     def __init__(self, app, conf, **local_conf):
@@ -106,7 +107,7 @@ class ContextMiddleware(wsgi.Middleware):
                 tenant = req.headers.get('X-Tenant')
                 roles = [r.strip()
                          for r in req.headers.get('X-Role', '').split(',')]
-                is_admin = 'Admin' in roles
+                is_admin = self.conf.admin_role in roles
             else:
                 # 2. Indentity-Status not confirmed
                 # FIXME(sirp): not sure what the correct behavior in this case
diff --git a/glance/tests/unit/test_api.py b/glance/tests/unit/test_api.py
index 99c4f1f65a..cab717f90e 100644
--- a/glance/tests/unit/test_api.py
+++ b/glance/tests/unit/test_api.py
@@ -3055,3 +3055,44 @@ class TestImageSerializer(base.IsolatedUnitTest):
         self.serializer.image_send_notification(17, 19, image_meta, req)
 
         self.assertTrue(called['notified'])
+
+
+class TestContextMiddleware(base.IsolatedUnitTest):
+    def _build_request(self, roles=None):
+        req = webob.Request.blank('/')
+        req.headers['x-auth-token'] = 'token1'
+        req.headers['x-identity-status'] = 'Confirmed'
+        req.headers['x-user'] = 'user1'
+        req.headers['x-tenant'] = 'tenant1'
+        _roles = roles or ['role1', 'role2']
+        req.headers['x-role'] = ','.join(_roles)
+        return req
+
+    def _build_middleware(self, **extra_config):
+        for k, v in extra_config.items():
+            setattr(self.conf, k, v)
+        return context.ContextMiddleware(None, self.conf)
+
+    def test_header_parsing(self):
+        req = self._build_request()
+        self._build_middleware().process_request(req)
+        self.assertEqual(req.context.auth_tok, 'token1')
+        self.assertEqual(req.context.user, 'user1')
+        self.assertEqual(req.context.tenant, 'tenant1')
+        self.assertEqual(req.context.roles, ['role1', 'role2'])
+
+    def test_is_admin_flag(self):
+        # is_admin check should look for 'admin' role by default
+        req = self._build_request(roles=['admin', 'role2'])
+        self._build_middleware().process_request(req)
+        self.assertTrue(req.context.is_admin)
+
+        # without the 'admin' role, is_admin shoud be False
+        req = self._build_request()
+        self._build_middleware().process_request(req)
+        self.assertFalse(req.context.is_admin)
+
+        # if we change the admin_role attribute, we should be able to use it
+        req = self._build_request()
+        self._build_middleware(admin_role='role1').process_request(req)
+        self.assertTrue(req.context.is_admin)