diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9dc7ccf1ac..f7eb5a78a1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
 
 [Full Changelog](https://github.com/sferik/rails_admin/compare/v1.0.0.rc...HEAD)
 
+### Changed
+- Change parent controller to ActionController::Base for out-of-box support of Rails 5 API mode([#2688](https://github.com/sferik/rails_admin/issues/2688))
+  - To keep old behavior, add `config.parent_controller = '::ApplicationController'` in your RailsAdmin initializer.
 
 ## [1.0.0.rc](https://github.com/sferik/rails_admin/tree/v1.0.0.rc) - 2016-07-18
 
diff --git a/lib/rails_admin/config.rb b/lib/rails_admin/config.rb
index 37676b72dc..1f79688646 100644
--- a/lib/rails_admin/config.rb
+++ b/lib/rails_admin/config.rb
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ def reset
         @show_gravatar = true
         @navigation_static_links = {}
         @navigation_static_label = nil
-        @parent_controller = '::ApplicationController'
+        @parent_controller = '::ActionController::Base'
         RailsAdmin::Config::Actions.reset
       end
 
diff --git a/lib/rails_admin/engine.rb b/lib/rails_admin/engine.rb
index 245cb4bff5..588e62faff 100644
--- a/lib/rails_admin/engine.rb
+++ b/lib/rails_admin/engine.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ class Engine < Rails::Engine
       )
     end
 
-    initializer 'RailsAdmin pjax hook' do |app|
+    initializer 'RailsAdmin setup middlewares' do |app|
+      app.config.middleware.use ActionDispatch::Flash
       app.config.middleware.use Rack::Pjax
     end