diff --git a/backend/app/main.py b/backend/app/main.py
index 91b34c91..01ccb65f 100644
--- a/backend/app/main.py
+++ b/backend/app/main.py
@@ -27,8 +27,20 @@ def _configure_seed_module(mod: object, api_url: str, email: str, password: str)
     mod.ADMIN_PASSWORD = password  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
 
 
+async def _seed_users_directly() -> None:
+    """Seed test users directly via DB if they don't exist yet."""
+    try:
+        from scripts.seed_test_users import main as seed_users
+        logger.info("[seed] Seeding test users directly via DB...")
+        await seed_users()
+        logger.info("[seed] Test users seeded!")
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.warning(f"[seed] User seeding failed: {e}")
+        raise
+
+
 async def _seed_trees_background() -> None:
-    """Background task: seed all flows via HTTP API after server is ready."""
+    """Background task: seed test users + all flows after server is ready."""
     await asyncio.sleep(5)  # Wait for server to be fully ready
     port = os.environ.get("PORT", "8000")
     api_url = f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}/api/v1"
@@ -37,12 +49,17 @@ async def _seed_trees_background() -> None:
 
     try:
         import httpx
-        # Login to verify admin user exists
+        # Try to login — if it fails, seed users first
         async with httpx.AsyncClient(base_url=api_url, timeout=30) as client:
             login_resp = await client.post("/auth/login/json", json={"email": email, "password": password})
             if login_resp.status_code != 200:
-                logger.warning("[seed] Could not login as admin — skipping flow seeding")
-                return
+                logger.warning("[seed] Admin login failed — seeding users first")
+                await _seed_users_directly()
+                # Retry login after seeding users
+                login_resp = await client.post("/auth/login/json", json={"email": email, "password": password})
+                if login_resp.status_code != 200:
+                    logger.error(f"[seed] Admin login still failing after user seed (status={login_resp.status_code}) — aborting")
+                    return
 
             token = login_resp.json()["access_token"]
             # Check if trees already exist