diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/fix_ios_user.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/fix_ios_user.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f89a06dbe60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/fix_ios_user.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+bugfixes:
+  - ios_user - fix unable to delete user admin issue (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/44904)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/network/ios/ios_user.py b/lib/ansible/modules/network/ios/ios_user.py
index 56a62adcdd9..5bd0f3c8bb9 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/network/ios/ios_user.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/network/ios/ios_user.py
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ def parse_privilege(data):
 def map_config_to_obj(module):
     data = get_config(module, flags=['| section username'])
 
-    match = re.findall(r'^username (\S+)', data, re.M)
+    match = re.findall(r'(?:^(?:u|\s{2}u))sername (\S+)', data, re.M)
     if not match:
         return list()
 
@@ -392,12 +392,6 @@ def main():
 
     result['commands'] = commands
 
-    # the ios cli prevents this by rule so capture it and display
-    # a nice failure message
-    for cmd in commands:
-        if 'no username admin' in cmd:
-            module.fail_json(msg='cannot delete the `admin` account')
-
     if commands:
         if not module.check_mode:
             load_config(module, commands)