diff --git a/docs/development/API/admin_api.md b/docs/development/API/admin_api.md
index ef04944af..a59804c87 100644
--- a/docs/development/API/admin_api.md
+++ b/docs/development/API/admin_api.md
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ The `/api/v1/pleroma/admin/*` path is backwards compatible with `/api/pleroma/ad
     {
       `nickname`,
       `email`,
-      `password` (optional)
+      `password` (optional; when provided, must not be empty)
     }
   ]
 - Response: Array of user objects. When a user is created without a `password`, `data`
diff --git a/lib/pleroma/web/admin_api/controllers/user_controller.ex b/lib/pleroma/web/admin_api/controllers/user_controller.ex
index c94964937..f0edfe4ba 100644
--- a/lib/pleroma/web/admin_api/controllers/user_controller.ex
+++ b/lib/pleroma/web/admin_api/controllers/user_controller.ex
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Web.AdminAPI.UserController do
         _
       ) do
     conn =
-      if Enum.any?(users, fn user -> Map.get(user, :password) in ["", nil] end) do
+      if Enum.any?(users, fn user -> not Map.has_key?(user, :password) end) do
         put_private(conn, :skip_idempotency_cache, true)
       else
         conn
@@ -162,15 +162,13 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Web.AdminAPI.UserController do
     multi =
       users
       |> Enum.map(fn %{nickname: nickname, email: email} = attrs ->
-        passwordless? = Map.get(attrs, :password) in ["", nil]
+        {password, passwordless?} =
+          case Map.fetch(attrs, :password) do
+            {:ok, password} ->
+              {password, false}
 
-        password =
-          case Map.get(attrs, :password) do
-            password when is_binary(password) and password != "" ->
-              password
-
-            _ ->
-              :crypto.strong_rand_bytes(16) |> Base.encode64()
+            :error ->
+              {:crypto.strong_rand_bytes(16) |> Base.encode64(), true}
           end
 
         user_data = %{
diff --git a/lib/pleroma/web/api_spec/operations/admin/user_operation.ex b/lib/pleroma/web/api_spec/operations/admin/user_operation.ex
index 84cf789d8..7c4725f56 100644
--- a/lib/pleroma/web/api_spec/operations/admin/user_operation.ex
+++ b/lib/pleroma/web/api_spec/operations/admin/user_operation.ex
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Web.ApiSpec.Admin.UserOperation do
                       type: :string,
                       description:
                         "Optional. When omitted, a `password_reset_link` is returned, " <>
-                          "allowing the user to set their own password."
+                          "allowing the user to set their own password. When provided, " <>
+                          "it must not be empty."
                     }
                   },
                   required: [:nickname, :email]
diff --git a/test/pleroma/web/admin_api/controllers/user_controller_test.exs b/test/pleroma/web/admin_api/controllers/user_controller_test.exs
index 32f2c1d30..0bea0c185 100644
--- a/test/pleroma/web/admin_api/controllers/user_controller_test.exs
+++ b/test/pleroma/web/admin_api/controllers/user_controller_test.exs
@@ -208,6 +208,21 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Web.AdminAPI.UserControllerTest do
       refute Map.has_key?(account2["data"], "password_reset_link")
     end
 
+    test "Explicit empty passwords return a conflict", %{conn: conn} do
+      conn =
+        conn
+        |> put_req_header("accept", "application/json")
+        |> put_req_header("content-type", "application/json")
+        |> post("/api/pleroma/admin/users", %{
+          "users" => [
+            %{"nickname" => "lain", "email" => "lain@example.org", "password" => ""}
+          ]
+        })
+
+      assert [%{"error" => "password can't be blank"}] = json_response(conn, 409)
+      refute User.get_by_nickname("lain")
+    end
+
     test "Password reset token failures roll back the user batch", %{conn: conn} do
       with_mock Pleroma.PasswordResetToken, [:passthrough],
         create_token: fn user ->