diff --git a/src/gitolite.pm b/src/gitolite.pm
index 5638d05..6f8025c 100644
--- a/src/gitolite.pm
+++ b/src/gitolite.pm
@@ -457,6 +457,7 @@ EOFhtp
 
     my $password = <>;
     $password =~ s/[\n\r]*$//;
+    die "empty passwords are not allowed\n" unless $password;
     my $rc = system("htpasswd", "-b", $HTPASSWD_FILE, $ENV{GL_USER}, $password);
     die "htpasswd command seems to have failed with $rc return code...\n" if $rc;
 }