I trying to rename my user model CustomUser => User Here what I've done: Rename Python class and all references makemigrations Did you rename the accounts.CustomUser model to User? [y/N] y Traceback (most recent call last): File "manage.py", line 21, in <module> main() File "manage.py", line 17, in main execute_from_command_line(sys.argv) File "/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 401, in execute_from_command_line utility.execute() File "/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 395, in execute self.fetch_command(subcommand).run_from_argv(self.argv) File "/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 330, in run_from_argv self.execute(*args, **cmd_options) File "/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 371, in execute output = self.handle(*args, **options) File "/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 85, in wrapped res = handle_func(*args, **kwargs) File "/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/management/commands/makemigrations.py", line 168, in handle migration_name=self.migration_name, File "/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/db/migrations/autodetector.py", line 43, in changes changes = self._detect_changes(convert_apps, graph) File "/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/db/migrations/autodetector.py", line 186, in _detect_changes self.generate_altered_fields() File "/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/db/migrations/autodetector.py", line 959, in generate_altered_fields dependencies.extend(self._get_dependencies_for_foreign_key(new_field)) File "/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/db/migrations/autodetector.py", line 1086, in _get_dependencies_for_foreign_key dep_app_label = field.remote_field.model._meta.app_label AttributeError: 'SettingsReference' object has no attribute '_meta' So I'm stuck with this exception, any help appreciated Continue reading...