diff --git a/cloudbaseinit/plugins/windows/sshpublickeys.py b/cloudbaseinit/plugins/windows/sshpublickeys.py
index 99470738..645e6676 100644
--- a/cloudbaseinit/plugins/windows/sshpublickeys.py
+++ b/cloudbaseinit/plugins/windows/sshpublickeys.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from cloudbaseinit.osutils import factory as osutils_factory
 from cloudbaseinit.plugins import base
 
 CONF = cfg.CONF
+CONF.import_opt('username', 'cloudbaseinit.plugins.windows.createuser')
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)