diff --git a/cypress/integration/admin.spec.js b/cypress/integration/admin.spec.js
--- a/cypress/integration/admin.spec.js
+++ b/cypress/integration/admin.spec.js
@@ -7,21 +7,10 @@
 
 const $ = Cypress.$;
 
-const username = 'admin';
-const password = 'admin';
 const defaultRedirect = '/admin/origin/save/';
 
 let url;
 
-function login(username, password) {
-  cy.get('input[name="username"]')
-    .type(username)
-    .get('input[name="password"]')
-    .type(password)
-    .get('form')
-    .submit();
-}
-
 function logout() {
   cy.contains('a', 'logout')
     .click();
@@ -33,8 +22,13 @@
   });
 
   it('should redirect to default page', function() {
-    cy.visit(url);
-    login(username, password);
+    cy.visit(url)
+      .get('input[name="username"]')
+      .type('admin')
+      .get('input[name="password"]')
+      .type('admin')
+      .get('form')
+      .submit();
 
     cy.location('pathname')
       .should('be.equal', defaultRedirect);
@@ -43,8 +37,8 @@
   });
 
   it('should display admin-origin-save and deposit in sidebar', function() {
+    cy.adminLogin();
     cy.visit(url);
-    login(username, password);
 
     cy.get(`.sidebar a[href="${this.Urls.admin_origin_save()}"]`)
       .should('be.visible');
@@ -56,11 +50,11 @@
   });
 
   it('should display username on top-right', function() {
+    cy.adminLogin();
     cy.visit(url);
-    login(username, password);
 
     cy.get('.swh-position-right')
-      .should('contain', username);
+      .should('contain', 'admin');
 
     logout();
   });
@@ -93,7 +87,8 @@
       .location('search')
       .should('contain', `next=${this.Urls.admin_deposit()}`);
 
-    login(username, password);
+    cy.adminLogin();
+    cy.visit(this.Urls.admin_deposit());
 
     cy.location('pathname')
       .should('be.equal', this.Urls.admin_deposit());
@@ -122,10 +117,9 @@
 describe('Test Admin Origin Save Urls Filtering', function() {
 
   beforeEach(function() {
+    cy.adminLogin();
     cy.visit(this.Urls.admin_origin_save());
 
-    login(username, password);
-
     cy.contains('a', 'Origin urls filtering')
       .click()
       .wait(500);
diff --git a/cypress/integration/deposit-admin.spec.js b/cypress/integration/deposit-admin.spec.js
--- a/cypress/integration/deposit-admin.spec.js
+++ b/cypress/integration/deposit-admin.spec.js
@@ -5,18 +5,6 @@
  * See top-level LICENSE file for more information
  */
 
-const username = 'admin';
-const password = 'admin';
-
-function login(username, password) {
-  cy.get('input[name="username"]')
-    .type(username)
-    .get('input[name="password"]')
-    .type(password)
-    .get('form')
-    .submit();
-}
-
 // data to use as request query response
 let responseDeposits;
 let expectedOrigins;
@@ -62,10 +50,8 @@
   });
 
   it('Should filter out deposits matching excluding pattern from display', function() {
+    cy.adminLogin();
     cy.visit(this.Urls.admin_deposit());
-    // FIXME: cypress anti-pattern, do not use ui to log ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-    // https://docs.cypress.io/guides/getting-started/testing-your-app.html#Logging-in
-    login(username, password);
 
     cy.server();
 
@@ -209,10 +195,8 @@
   });
 
   it('Should display properly entries', function() {
+    cy.adminLogin();
     cy.visit(this.Urls.admin_deposit());
-    // FIXME: cypress anti-pattern, do not use ui to log ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-    // https://docs.cypress.io/guides/getting-started/testing-your-app.html#Logging-in
-    login(username, password);
 
     let testDeposits = responseDeposits;
 
diff --git a/cypress/integration/vault.spec.js b/cypress/integration/vault.spec.js
--- a/cypress/integration/vault.spec.js
+++ b/cypress/integration/vault.spec.js
@@ -13,16 +13,6 @@
   'done': 'rgb(92, 184, 92)'
 };
 
-function adminLogin() {
-  cy.visit('/admin/')
-    .get('input[name="username"]')
-    .type('admin')
-    .get('input[name="password"]')
-    .type('admin')
-    .get('form')
-    .submit();
-}
-
 function checkVaultCookingTask(objectType) {
   cy.contains('button', 'Download')
     .click();
@@ -197,7 +187,7 @@
   });
 
   it('should create a revision cooking task and report its status', function() {
-    adminLogin();
+    cy.adminLogin();
     // Browse a revision
     cy.visit(this.revisionUrl);
 
@@ -380,7 +370,7 @@
   });
 
   it('should offer to immediately download a revision gitfast archive if already cooked', function() {
-    adminLogin();
+    cy.adminLogin();
     // Browse a directory
     cy.visit(this.revisionUrl);
 
diff --git a/cypress/support/index.js b/cypress/support/index.js
--- a/cypress/support/index.js
+++ b/cypress/support/index.js
@@ -20,6 +20,32 @@
   ).to.have.length(timesCalled);
 });
 
+Cypress.Commands.add('adminLogin', () => {
+  const url = '/admin/login/';
+  return cy.request({
+    url: url,
+    method: 'GET'
+  }).then(() => {
+    cy.getCookie('sessionid').should('not.exist');
+    cy.getCookie('csrftoken').its('value').then((token) => {
+      cy.request({
+        url: url,
+        method: 'POST',
+        form: true,
+        followRedirect: false,
+        body: {
+          username: 'admin',
+          password: 'admin',
+          csrfmiddlewaretoken: token
+        }
+      }).then(() => {
+        cy.getCookie('sessionid').should('exist');
+        return cy.getCookie('csrftoken').its('value');
+      });
+    });
+  });
+});
+
 before(function() {
   this.unarchivedRepo = {
     url: 'https://github.com/SoftwareHeritage/swh-web',