diff --git a/docs/manual/makeusers-syntax.txt b/docs/manual/makeusers-syntax.txt
index ffdb961871..467e596230 100644
--- a/docs/manual/makeusers-syntax.txt
+++ b/docs/manual/makeusers-syntax.txt
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ Where:
   then login is disabled. If prefixed with +=+, then it is interpreted
   as clear-text, and will be crypt-encoded (using MD5). If prefixed with
   +!=+, then the password will be crypt-encoded (using MD5) and login
-  will be disabled. If set to +*+, then login is not allowed.
+  will be disabled. If set to +*+, then login is not allowed. If set to 
+  +-+, then no password value will be set.
 - +home+ is the desired home directory for the user. If set to '-', no
   home directory will be created, and the user's home will be +/+.
   Explicitly setting +home+ to +/+ is not allowed.
diff --git a/support/scripts/mkusers b/support/scripts/mkusers
index 026519e4ee..9c5c4dcadb 100755
--- a/support/scripts/mkusers
+++ b/support/scripts/mkusers
@@ -318,6 +318,9 @@ add_one_user() {
         *)  fail "home must be an absolute path\n";;
     esac
     case "${passwd}" in
+        -)
+            _passwd=""
+            ;;
         !=*)
             _passwd='!'"$( encode_password "${passwd#!=}" )"
             ;;