diff --git a/user_mgr.cpp b/user_mgr.cpp
index a5a3f7b..a5ecb8f 100644
--- a/user_mgr.cpp
+++ b/user_mgr.cpp
@@ -469,7 +469,13 @@
     }
     if (value < minPasswdLength)
     {
-        return value;
+        log<level::ERR>(("Attempting to set minPasswordLength to less than " +
+                         std::to_string(minPasswdLength))
+                            .c_str(),
+                        entry("SIZE=%d", value));
+        elog<InvalidArgument>(
+            Argument::ARGUMENT_NAME("minPasswordLength"),
+            Argument::ARGUMENT_VALUE(std::to_string(value).c_str()));
     }
     if (setPamModuleArgValue(pamCrackLib, minPasswdLenProp,
                              std::to_string(value)) != success)