diff --git a/src/tests/globalSetup.js b/src/tests/globalSetup.js
index 65b279c11..de89d207d 100644
--- a/src/tests/globalSetup.js
+++ b/src/tests/globalSetup.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ const url = config.serverURL;
 const usernameField = config.user.auth.useAsUsername;
 
 const globalSetup = async () => {
-  global.PAYLOAD_SERVER = await server.start();
+  global.PAYLOAD_SERVER = server.start();
 
   const response = await fetch(`${url}/api/first-register`, {
     body: JSON.stringify({
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ const globalSetup = async () => {
   });
 
   const data = await response.json();
+
+  if (!data.token) {
+    throw new Error('Failed to register first user');
+  }
+
   global.AUTH_TOKEN = data.token;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/users/operations/checkIfInitialized.js b/src/users/operations/checkIfInitialized.js
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29bb..000000000
diff --git a/src/users/operations/index.js b/src/users/operations/index.js
index 473f28cc5..a1765d390 100644
--- a/src/users/operations/index.js
+++ b/src/users/operations/index.js
@@ -1,17 +1,17 @@
-const checkIfInitialized = require('./checkIfInitialized');
 const login = require('./login');
 const refresh = require('./refresh');
 const register = require('./register');
 const init = require('./init');
 const forgotPassword = require('./forgotPassword');
 const resetPassword = require('./resetPassword');
+const registerFirstUser = require('./registerFirstUser');
 
 module.exports = {
-  checkIfInitialized,
   login,
   refresh,
   init,
   register,
   forgotPassword,
   resetPassword,
+  registerFirstUser,
 };
diff --git a/src/users/operations/login.js b/src/users/operations/login.js
index 0a744d350..dedc93c4e 100644
--- a/src/users/operations/login.js
+++ b/src/users/operations/login.js
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ const login = async (args) => {
     // 1. Execute before login hook
     // /////////////////////////////////////
 
-    const beforeLoginHook = args.config && args.config.hooks && args.config.hooks.beforeLogin;
+    const beforeLoginHook = args.config.hooks && args.config.hooks.beforeLogin;
 
     if (typeof beforeLoginHook === 'function') {
       options = await beforeLoginHook(options);
@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ const login = async (args) => {
     // /////////////////////////////////////
 
     return token;
-  } catch (err) {
-    throw err;
+  } catch (error) {
+    throw error;
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/src/users/operations/refresh.js b/src/users/operations/refresh.js
index 307ccd77c..4559fba86 100644
--- a/src/users/operations/refresh.js
+++ b/src/users/operations/refresh.js
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ const refresh = async (args) => {
     // 1. Execute before refresh hook
     // /////////////////////////////////////
 
-    const beforeRefreshHook = args.config.user && args.config.user.hooks && args.config.user.hooks.beforeRefresh;
+    const beforeRefreshHook = args.config.hooks && args.config.hooks.beforeRefresh;
 
     if (typeof beforeRefreshHook === 'function') {
       options = await beforeRefreshHook(options);
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ const refresh = async (args) => {
     // 2. Perform refresh
     // /////////////////////////////////////
 
-    const secret = options.config.user.auth.secretKey;
+    const secret = options.config.auth.secretKey;
     const opts = {};
-    opts.expiresIn = options.config.user.auth.tokenExpiration;
+    opts.expiresIn = options.config.auth.tokenExpiration;
 
     const token = options.authorization.replace('JWT ', '');
     jwt.verify(token, secret, {});
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ const refresh = async (args) => {
     // 3. Execute after login hook
     // /////////////////////////////////////
 
-    const afterRefreshHook = args.config.user && args.config.user.hooks && args.config.user.hooks.afterRefresh;
+    const afterRefreshHook = args.config.hooks && args.config.hooks.afterRefresh;
 
     if (typeof afterRefreshHook === 'function') {
       await afterRefreshHook(options, refreshedToken);
diff --git a/src/users/operations/register.js b/src/users/operations/register.js
index e69de29bb..a55dc850f 100644
--- a/src/users/operations/register.js
+++ b/src/users/operations/register.js
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+
+const passport = require('passport');
+
+const register = async (args) => {
+  try {
+    // Await validation here
+
+    let options = {
+      Model: args.Model,
+      config: args.config,
+      api: args.api,
+      data: args.data,
+    };
+
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+    // 1. Execute before register hook
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+
+    const beforeRegisterHook = args.config.hooks && args.config.hooks.beforeRegister;
+
+    if (typeof beforeRegisterHook === 'function') {
+      options = await beforeRegisterHook(options);
+    }
+
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+    // 2. Perform register
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+
+    const {
+      Model,
+      config,
+      data,
+    } = options;
+
+    const usernameField = config.auth.useAsUsername;
+
+    let result = await Model.register(new Model({
+      [usernameField]: data[usernameField],
+    }), data.password);
+
+    await passport.authenticate('local');
+
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+    // 3. Execute after register hook
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+
+    const afterRegisterHook = args.config.hooks && args.config.hooks.afterRegister;
+
+    if (typeof afterRegisterHook === 'function') {
+      result = await afterRegisterHook(options, result);
+    }
+
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+    // 4. Return user
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+
+    return result;
+  } catch (error) {
+    throw error;
+  }
+};
+
+module.exports = register;
diff --git a/src/users/operations/registerFirstUser.js b/src/users/operations/registerFirstUser.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9f5cc1cfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/users/operations/registerFirstUser.js
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+const register = require('./register');
+const login = require('./login');
+const { Forbidden } = require('../../errors');
+
+const registerFirstUser = async (args) => {
+  try {
+    const count = await args.Model.countDocuments({});
+
+    if (count >= 1) throw new Forbidden();
+
+    // Await validation here
+
+    let options = {
+      Model: args.Model,
+      config: args.config,
+      api: args.api,
+      data: args.data,
+    };
+
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+    // 1. Execute before register first user hook
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+
+    const beforeRegisterHook = args.config.hooks && args.config.hooks.beforeFirstRegister;
+
+    if (typeof beforeRegisterHook === 'function') {
+      options = await beforeRegisterHook(options);
+    }
+
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+    // 2. Perform register first user
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+
+    let result = await register(options);
+
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+    // 3. Execute after register hook
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+
+    const afterRegisterHook = args.config.hooks && args.config.hooks.afterFirstRegister;
+
+    if (typeof afterRegisterHook === 'function') {
+      result = await afterRegisterHook(options, result);
+    }
+
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+    // 4. Return user
+    // /////////////////////////////////////
+
+    const token = await login(options);
+
+    const results = {
+      ...result,
+      token,
+    };
+
+    return results;
+  } catch (error) {
+    throw error;
+  }
+};
+
+module.exports = registerFirstUser;
diff --git a/src/users/requestHandlers/checkIfInitialized.js b/src/users/requestHandlers/checkIfInitialized.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 3ae9ca52a..000000000
--- a/src/users/requestHandlers/checkIfInitialized.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Middleware to check if there are any users present in the database.
- * @param req
- * @param res
- * @param next
- * @returns {*}
- */
-const checkIfInitialized = User => (req, res, next) => {
-  User.countDocuments({}, (err, count) => {
-    if (err) res.status(500).json({ error: err });
-    if (count >= 1) return res.status(403).json({ initialized: true });
-    return next();
-  });
-};
-
-module.exports = checkIfInitialized;
diff --git a/src/users/requestHandlers/index.js b/src/users/requestHandlers/index.js
index 9a9c5a100..4871e92ed 100644
--- a/src/users/requestHandlers/index.js
+++ b/src/users/requestHandlers/index.js
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-const checkIfInitialized = require('./checkIfInitialized');
 const login = require('./login');
 const me = require('./me');
 const refresh = require('./refresh');
@@ -6,14 +5,15 @@ const register = require('./register');
 const init = require('./init');
 const forgotPassword = require('./forgotPassword');
 const resetPassword = require('./resetPassword');
+const registerFirstUser = require('./registerFirstUser');
 
 module.exports = {
-  checkIfInitialized,
   login,
   me,
   refresh,
   init,
   register,
   forgotPassword,
+  registerFirstUser,
   resetPassword,
 };
diff --git a/src/users/requestHandlers/login.js b/src/users/requestHandlers/login.js
index ceb1fecd0..13430b205 100644
--- a/src/users/requestHandlers/login.js
+++ b/src/users/requestHandlers/login.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ const loginHandler = (User, config) => async (req, res) => {
   try {
     const token = await login({
       Model: User,
-      config: config.user,
+      config,
       data: req.body,
       api: 'REST',
     });
diff --git a/src/users/requestHandlers/refresh.js b/src/users/requestHandlers/refresh.js
index f35591b72..36215967b 100644
--- a/src/users/requestHandlers/refresh.js
+++ b/src/users/requestHandlers/refresh.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const refreshHandler = config => async (req, res) => {
       authorization: req.headers.authorization,
     });
 
-    res.status(200).json({
+    return res.status(200).json({
       message: 'Token refresh successful',
       refreshedToken,
     });
diff --git a/src/users/requestHandlers/register.js b/src/users/requestHandlers/register.js
index 38d73b9bf..3e6aa7956 100644
--- a/src/users/requestHandlers/register.js
+++ b/src/users/requestHandlers/register.js
@@ -1,32 +1,20 @@
-const passport = require('passport');
 const httpStatus = require('http-status');
 const formatErrorResponse = require('../../express/responses/formatError');
+const { register } = require('../operations');
 
-/**
-   * Returns User when succesfully registered
-   * @param req
-   * @param res
-   * @param next
-   * @returns {*}
-   */
-const register = (User, config) => async (req, res) => {
+const registerHandler = (User, config) => async (req, res) => {
   try {
-    const usernameField = config.user.auth.useAsUsername;
-
-    const user = await User.register(new User({
-      [usernameField]: req.body[usernameField],
-    }), req.body.password);
-
-    await passport.authenticate('local');
-
-    return res.status(httpStatus.CREATED).json({
-      [usernameField]: user[usernameField],
-      role: user.role,
-      createdAt: user.createdAt,
+    const user = await register({
+      data: req.body,
+      Model: User,
+      config,
+      api: 'REST',
     });
+
+    return res.status(201).json(user);
   } catch (error) {
     return res.status(httpStatus.UNAUTHORIZED).json(formatErrorResponse(error));
   }
 };
 
-module.exports = register;
+module.exports = registerHandler;
diff --git a/src/users/requestHandlers/registerFirstUser.js b/src/users/requestHandlers/registerFirstUser.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a3fb832d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/users/requestHandlers/registerFirstUser.js
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+const httpStatus = require('http-status');
+const formatErrorResponse = require('../../express/responses/formatError');
+const { registerFirstUser } = require('../operations');
+
+const registerFirstUserHandler = (User, config) => async (req, res) => {
+  try {
+    const firstUser = await registerFirstUser({
+      Model: User,
+      config,
+      api: 'REST',
+      data: req.body,
+    });
+
+    return res.status(201).json(firstUser);
+  } catch (error) {
+    return res.status(error.status || httpStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR).json(formatErrorResponse(error));
+  }
+};
+
+module.exports = registerFirstUserHandler;
diff --git a/src/users/routes.js b/src/users/routes.js
index d36d362f3..a4e1126b7 100644
--- a/src/users/routes.js
+++ b/src/users/routes.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ const {
   refresh,
   me,
   register,
-  checkIfInitialized,
+  registerFirstUser,
   forgotPassword,
   resetPassword,
 } = require('./requestHandlers');
@@ -14,19 +14,17 @@ const {
 const router = express.Router();
 
 const authRoutes = (User, config, email) => {
-  const registerHandler = register(User, config);
-
   router
     .route('/init')
     .get(init(User));
 
   router
     .route('/login')
-    .post(login(User, config));
+    .post(login(User, config.user));
 
   router
     .route('/refresh')
-    .post(refresh(config));
+    .post(refresh(config.user));
 
   router
     .route('/me')
@@ -34,15 +32,15 @@ const authRoutes = (User, config, email) => {
 
   router
     .route(`/${config.user.slug}/register`)
-    .post(registerHandler);
+    .post(register(User, config.user));
 
   router
     .route('/first-register')
-    .post(checkIfInitialized(User), registerHandler);
+    .post(registerFirstUser(User, config.user));
 
   router
     .route('/forgot')
-    .post(forgotPassword(User, config));
+    .post(forgotPassword(User, config, email));
 
   router
     .route('/reset')