diff --git a/core/_bootstrap.php b/core/_bootstrap.php
index c9869a36..a003ed6e 100644
--- a/core/_bootstrap.php
+++ b/core/_bootstrap.php
@@ -52,11 +52,6 @@ unset($themelet);
 $page = class_exists("CustomPage") ? new CustomPage() : new Page();
 $_tracer->end();
 
-$_shm_ctx->log_start("Loading user information");
-$user = _get_user();
-$user_config = new DatabaseConfig($database, "user_config","user_id", $user->id);
-$_shm_ctx->log_endok();
-
 // hook up event handlers
 $_tracer->begin("Loading extensions");
 _load_event_listeners();
diff --git a/core/sys_config.php b/core/sys_config.php
index 5dc80459..13de59a4 100644
--- a/core/sys_config.php
+++ b/core/sys_config.php
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ _d("SEARCH_ACCEL", false);   // boolean  use search accelerator
 _d("WH_SPLITS", 1);          // int      how many levels of subfolders to put in the warehouse
 _d("VERSION", '2.7-beta');   // string   shimmie version
 _d("TIMEZONE", null);        // string   timezone
-_d("CORE_EXTS", "bbcode,user,mail,upload,image,view,handle_pixel,ext_manager,setup,upgrade,handle_404,handle_static,comment,tag_list,index,tag_edit,alias_editor,media,help_pages,system"); // extensions to always enable
+_d("CORE_EXTS", "bbcode,user,mail,upload,image,view,handle_pixel,ext_manager,setup,upgrade,handle_404,handle_static,comment,tag_list,index,tag_edit,alias_editor,media,help_pages,system,user_config"); // extensions to always enable
 _d("EXTRA_EXTS", "");        // string   optional extra extensions
 _d("BASE_URL", null);        // string   force a specific base URL (default is auto-detect)
 _d("MIN_PHP_VERSION", '7.1');// string   minimum supported PHP version
diff --git a/ext/upgrade/main.php b/ext/upgrade/main.php
index 4be2a25d..2729b1ce 100644
--- a/ext/upgrade/main.php
+++ b/ext/upgrade/main.php
@@ -224,29 +224,11 @@ class Upgrade extends Extension
             $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
 
+
         if ($config->get_int("db_version") < 18) {
             $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", true);
             $config->set_int("db_version", 18);
 
-            log_info("upgrade", "Adding user config table");
-
-            $database->create_table("user_config", "
-                user_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
-                name VARCHAR(128) NOT NULL,
-                value TEXT,
-                PRIMARY KEY (user_id, name),
-			    FOREIGN KEY (user_id) REFERENCES users(id) ON DELETE CASCADE
-		    ");
-            $database->execute("CREATE INDEX user_config_user_id_idx ON user_config(user_id)");
-
-            log_info("upgrade", "Database at version 18");
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
-        }
-
-        if ($config->get_int("db_version") < 19) {
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", true);
-            $config->set_int("db_version", 19);
-
             log_info("upgrade", "Updating to new unrated code");
 
             if ($database->get_driver_name()==DatabaseDriver::PGSQL) {  // These updates can take a little bit
@@ -255,11 +237,10 @@ class Upgrade extends Extension
             $database->execute("UPDATE images SET rating = :new WHERE rating = :old", ["new"=>'?', "old"=>'u' ]);
 
 
-            log_info("upgrade", "Database at version 19");
+            log_info("upgrade", "Database at version 18");
             $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
 
-
     }
 
     public function get_priority(): int
diff --git a/ext/user_config/main.php b/ext/user_config/main.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ed728101
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/user_config/main.php
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+<?php
+/*
+ * Name: User-specific settings
+ * Author: Matthew Barbour <matthew@darkholme.net>
+ * Description: Provides system-wide support for user-specific settings
+ * Visibility: admin
+ */
+
+// The user object doesn't exist until after database setup operations and the first wave of InitExtEvents,
+// so we can't reliably access this data until then. This event is triggered by the system after all of that is done.
+class InitUserConfigEvent extends Event
+{
+    public $user;
+    public $user_config;
+
+    public function __construct(User $user)
+    {
+        $this->user = $user;
+    }
+}
+
+class UserConfig extends Extension
+{
+    private const VERSION = "ext_user_config_version";
+
+    public function onInitExt(InitExtEvent $event)
+    {
+        global $config;
+
+        if ($config->get_int(self::VERSION,0)<1) {
+            $this->install();
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function onInitUserConfig(InitUserConfigEvent $event) {
+        global $database, $user_config;
+
+        $user_config = new DatabaseConfig($database, "user_config", "user_id", $event->user->id);
+        $event->user_config  = $user_config;
+    }
+
+    private function install(): void
+    {
+        global $config, $database;
+
+        if ($config->get_int(self::VERSION,0) < 1) {
+
+            log_info("upgrade", "Adding user config table");
+
+            $database->create_table("user_config", "
+                user_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+                name VARCHAR(128) NOT NULL,
+                value TEXT,
+                PRIMARY KEY (user_id, name),
+			    FOREIGN KEY (user_id) REFERENCES users(id) ON DELETE CASCADE
+		    ");
+            $database->execute("CREATE INDEX user_config_user_id_idx ON user_config(user_id)");
+
+            $config->set_int(self::VERSION, 1);
+        }
+    }
+
+
+    // This needs to happen before any other events, but after db upgrade
+    public function get_priority(): int
+    {
+        return 6;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index 95300516..67855129 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -89,7 +89,10 @@ $_tracer->begin($_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"] ?? "No Request");
 
 try {
 
+
     // start the page generation waterfall
+    $user = _get_user();
+    send_event(new InitUserConfigEvent($user));
     if (PHP_SAPI === 'cli' || PHP_SAPI == 'phpdbg') {
         send_event(new CommandEvent($argv));
     } else {