diff --git a/stable/jenkins/CHANGELOG.md b/stable/jenkins/CHANGELOG.md
index a3daacb864..7022a04894 100644
--- a/stable/jenkins/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/stable/jenkins/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ numbering uses [semantic versioning](http://semver.org).
 
 NOTE: The change log until version 1.5.7 is auto generated based on git commits. Those include a reference to the git commit to be able to get more details.
 
+## 1.6.1
+
+Print error message when `master.sidecars.configAutoReload.enabled` is `true`, but the admin user can't be found to configure the SSH key.
+
 ## 1.6.0
 
 Add support for Google Cloud Storage for backup CronJob (migrating from nuvo/kube-tasks to maorfr/kube-tasks)
diff --git a/stable/jenkins/Chart.yaml b/stable/jenkins/Chart.yaml
index 6f87f6179a..1323152a4a 100755
--- a/stable/jenkins/Chart.yaml
+++ b/stable/jenkins/Chart.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 apiVersion: v1
 name: jenkins
 home: https://jenkins.io/
-version: 1.6.0
+version: 1.6.1
 appVersion: lts
 description: Open source continuous integration server. It supports multiple SCM tools
   including CVS, Subversion and Git. It can execute Apache Ant and Apache Maven-based
diff --git a/stable/jenkins/templates/config.yaml b/stable/jenkins/templates/config.yaml
index 693c4c9cc4..a99c31c67c 100644
--- a/stable/jenkins/templates/config.yaml
+++ b/stable/jenkins/templates/config.yaml
@@ -297,18 +297,20 @@ data:
   init-add-ssh-key-to-admin.groovy: |-
     import jenkins.security.*
     import hudson.model.User
-    import jenkins.security.ApiTokenProperty
     import jenkins.model.Jenkins
-    User u = User.get("{{ .Values.master.adminUser | default "admin" }}")
-    ApiTokenProperty t = u.getProperty(ApiTokenProperty.class)
-    String sshKeyString = new File('/var/jenkins_home/key.pub').text
-    keys_param = new org.jenkinsci.main.modules.cli.auth.ssh.UserPropertyImpl(sshKeyString)
-    u.addProperty(keys_param)
-    def inst = Jenkins.getInstance()
-    def sshDesc = inst.getDescriptor("org.jenkinsci.main.modules.sshd.SSHD")
-    sshDesc.setPort({{ .Values.master.sidecars.configAutoReload.sshTcpPort | default 1044 }})
-    sshDesc.getActualPort()
-    sshDesc.save()
+    User user = User.get("{{ .Values.master.adminUser | default "admin" }}", false)
+    if (user == null) {
+      System.err.println("ERROR: user '{{ .Values.master.adminUser | default "admin" }}' not found! Can't configure SSH key which is needed to reload JCasC config!")
+    } else {
+      String sshKeyString = new File('/var/jenkins_home/key.pub').text
+      keys_param = new org.jenkinsci.main.modules.cli.auth.ssh.UserPropertyImpl(sshKeyString)
+      user.addProperty(keys_param)
+      def inst = Jenkins.getInstance()
+      def sshDesc = inst.getDescriptor("org.jenkinsci.main.modules.sshd.SSHD")
+      sshDesc.setPort({{ .Values.master.sidecars.configAutoReload.sshTcpPort | default 1044 }})
+      sshDesc.getActualPort()
+      sshDesc.save()
+    }
   {{- else }}
 # Only add config to this script if we aren't auto-reloading otherwise the pod will restart upon each config change:
 {{- range $key, $val := .Values.master.JCasC.configScripts }}