diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a10b93e..fcb891f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -29,10 +29,14 @@ Make those changes so:
 > You'll need ambiently-configured AWS credentials with broad admin-level
 > access to read (and optionally modify) resources in our account.
 >
-> You'll also need a `GITHUB_TOKEN` in the environment with the `actions:write`
-> fine-grained token permission on our repos.
+> You'll also need a `GITHUB_TOKEN` in the environment with the following
+> fine-grained token permissions on our repos:
 >
-> Please step cautiously and be careful when using them!
+>   - `actions:write`
+>   - `administration:write`
+>
+> Please step cautiously and be careful when using these two sets of
+> credentials!
 
 
 ## Documentation
diff --git a/env/production/github-repos.tf b/env/production/github-repos.tf
index 8e118c6..3153794 100644
--- a/env/production/github-repos.tf
+++ b/env/production/github-repos.tf
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
-resource "github_repository_topics" "nextstrain" {
+data "github_repository" "pathogen" {
   for_each = toset(flatten(values(local.pathogen_repos)))
+  name = each.key
+}
+
+resource "github_repository_topics" "pathogen" {
+  for_each = data.github_repository.pathogen
   repository = each.key
-  topics = ["nextstrain", "pathogen"]
+  topics = toset(flatten([each.value.topics, "nextstrain", "pathogen"]))
 }