diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 08d8da08..f5bc8d3a 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 exclude: 'docs|migrations|.git|.tox'
-default_stages: [commit]
+default_stages: [pre-commit]
 fail_fast: true
 
 repos:
diff --git a/config/settings/local.py b/config/settings/local.py
index 6025087f..c6618ab3 100644
--- a/config/settings/local.py
+++ b/config/settings/local.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 """Use these settings for local development."""
 
-from django.core.management.utils import get_random_secret_key
+from django.utils.crypto import get_random_string
 
 from .base import *  # noqa
 from .base import AUTH_METHOD, REST_FRAMEWORK, env
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#secret-key
 SECRET_KEY = env(
     "DJANGO_SECRET_KEY",
-    default=get_random_secret_key(),
+    default=get_random_string(50, allowed_chars="abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789"),
 )
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#allowed-hosts
 ALLOWED_HOSTS = ["*"]
diff --git a/scram/route_manager/views.py b/scram/route_manager/views.py
index 50abbd7f..d6e341db 100644
--- a/scram/route_manager/views.py
+++ b/scram/route_manager/views.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 from scram.route_manager.models import WebSocketSequenceElement
 
 from ..route_manager.api.views import EntryViewSet
+from ..shared.shared_code import make_random_password
 from ..users.models import User
 from .models import ActionType, Entry
 
@@ -50,10 +51,7 @@ def home_page(request, prefilter=None):
 
     if settings.AUTOCREATE_ADMIN:
         if User.objects.count() == 0:
-            password = User.objects.make_random_password(
-                length=20,
-                allowed_chars="abcdefghjkmnpqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZ23456789!@#$%^&*",
-            )
+            password = make_random_password(length=20)
             User.objects.create_superuser("admin", "admin@example.com", password)
             authenticated_admin = authenticate(request, username="admin", password=password)
             login(request, authenticated_admin)
diff --git a/scram/shared/__init__.py b/scram/shared/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9af65b5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scram/shared/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+"""A Module for defining shared code and constants."""
diff --git a/scram/shared/shared_code.py b/scram/shared/shared_code.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..926d7bb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scram/shared/shared_code.py
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+"""A Module for defining shared code."""
+
+import secrets
+import string
+
+
+def make_random_password(length: int = 20, min_digits: int = 5, max_attempts: int = 10000) -> str:
+    """make_random_password replaces the deprecated django make_random_password function.
+
+    Generates a random password of a specified length containing at least a specified number of digits using the
+    official python best practices and some additional sanity checks. The python docs for this can be found at
+    https://docs.python.org/3/library/secrets.html#recipes-and-best-practices. Note that generating long passwords
+    with a high number of digits (>100) is inefficient and should be avoided. This password should only be used for
+    temporary purposes, such as for a user to log in to the web interface and change their password.
+
+    Args:
+        length (int, optional): The total length of the password to generate. Defaults to 20.
+        min_digits (int, optional): The minimum number of digits the password needs. Defaults to 5.
+        max_attempts (int, optional): The maximum number of attempts to generate a valid password. Defaults to 10000.
+
+    Raises:
+        ValueError: Password length must be at least 1
+        ValueError: min_digits cannot be negative
+        ValueError: min_digits cannot exceed password length
+        ValueError: For performance reasons, min_digits cannot exceed 30% of the password length
+        RuntimeError: Failed to generate a valid password after max_attempts attempts
+
+    Returns:
+        password (str): The generated password.
+    """
+    if length < 1:
+        message = "Password length must be at least 1"
+        raise ValueError(message)
+    if min_digits < 0:
+        message = "min_digits cannot be negative"
+        raise ValueError(message)
+    if min_digits > length:
+        message = "min_digits cannot exceed password length"
+        raise ValueError(message)
+    # Only allow a somewhat arbitrary threshold of 30% of the password length for min_digits, for performance reasons.
+    if min_digits > length * 0.3:
+        message = "For performance reasons, min_digits cannot exceed 30% of the password length"
+        raise ValueError(message)
+
+    alphabet = string.ascii_letters + string.digits
+
+    for _attempt in range(max_attempts):
+        password = "".join(secrets.choice(alphabet) for _i in range(length))
+        if (
+            any(c.islower() for c in password)
+            and any(c.isupper() for c in password)
+            and sum(c.isdigit() for c in password) >= min_digits
+        ):
+            return password
+
+    # If we reached this point, we failed to generate a valid password after max_attempts attempts, likely due to the
+    # required password length being very long and the min_digits being high.
+    message = f"Failed to generate a valid password after {max_attempts} attempts"
+    raise RuntimeError(message)