diff --git a/api/admin.go b/api/admin.go
index 34533a9f..14005b61 100644
--- a/api/admin.go
+++ b/api/admin.go
@@ -137,6 +137,12 @@ func (a *API) adminUserUpdate(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if params.Password != "" {
+		if err := validatePassword(params.Password); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	err = a.db.Transaction(func(tx *storage.Connection) error {
 		if params.Role != "" {
 			if terr := user.SetRole(tx, params.Role); terr != nil {
@@ -209,6 +215,10 @@ func (a *API) adminUserCreate(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if err := validatePassword(params.Password); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	aud := a.requestAud(ctx, r)
 	if params.Aud != "" {
 		aud = params.Aud
diff --git a/api/password.go b/api/password.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bf99728d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/password.go
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+package api
+
+import "github.com/netlify/gotrue/models"
+
+// validatePassword rejects passwords that violate GoTrue's server-side rules.
+// Empty passwords are accepted here; callers that require a non-empty password
+// (e.g. signup) check that separately.
+func validatePassword(password string) error {
+	if len(password) > models.MaxPasswordLength {
+		return unprocessableEntityError("Password exceeds the maximum length of %d bytes", models.MaxPasswordLength)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/api/password_test.go b/api/password_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ad06a291
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/password_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package api
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestValidatePassword(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		password string
+		wantErr  bool
+	}{
+		{"empty is accepted here", "", false},
+		{"short password", "hunter2", false},
+		{"exactly 72 bytes", strings.Repeat("a", 72), false},
+		{"73 bytes is rejected", strings.Repeat("a", 73), true},
+		// 4-byte emoji * 19 = 76 bytes total
+		{"long emoji string rejected", strings.Repeat("😀", 19), true},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			err := validatePassword(tt.password)
+			if tt.wantErr {
+				require.Error(t, err)
+				he, ok := err.(*HTTPError)
+				require.True(t, ok, "expected *HTTPError, got %T", err)
+				assert.Equal(t, 422, he.Code)
+				return
+			}
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/api/signup.go b/api/signup.go
index 886b3093..d5b683f9 100644
--- a/api/signup.go
+++ b/api/signup.go
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ func (a *API) Signup(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) error {
 	if params.Password == "" {
 		return unprocessableEntityError("Signup requires a valid password")
 	}
+	if err := validatePassword(params.Password); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	if err := a.validateEmail(ctx, params.Email); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/api/user.go b/api/user.go
index 5bd96283..a7256d6c 100644
--- a/api/user.go
+++ b/api/user.go
@@ -62,6 +62,12 @@ func (a *API) UserUpdate(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) error {
 		return badRequestError("Could not read User Update params: %v", err)
 	}
 
+	if params.Password != "" {
+		if err := validatePassword(params.Password); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	claims := getClaims(ctx)
 	userID, err := uuid.FromString(claims.Subject)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/api/verify.go b/api/verify.go
index 88c19b27..f71d0dd6 100644
--- a/api/verify.go
+++ b/api/verify.go
@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@ func (a *API) Verify(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) error {
 		return unprocessableEntityError("Verify requires a token")
 	}
 
+	if params.Password != "" {
+		if err := validatePassword(params.Password); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	var (
 		user  *models.User
 		err   error
diff --git a/models/user.go b/models/user.go
index 295caff3..d993e748 100644
--- a/models/user.go
+++ b/models/user.go
@@ -15,6 +15,16 @@ import (
 
 const SystemUserID = "0"
 
+// MaxPasswordLength is the largest password (in bytes) GoTrue will hash.
+// bcrypt silently truncates any input beyond 72 bytes, so anything longer
+// would only have its prefix validated on sign-in. CJK characters and emoji
+// are multi-byte in UTF-8, so this is a byte limit rather than a rune limit.
+const MaxPasswordLength = 72
+
+// ErrPasswordTooLong is returned by hashPassword when the supplied password
+// exceeds MaxPasswordLength. API handlers translate this into a 422 response.
+var ErrPasswordTooLong = errors.New("password exceeds the maximum length of 72 bytes")
+
 var SystemUserUUID = uuid.Nil
 
 // User respresents a registered user with email/password authentication
@@ -230,6 +240,9 @@ func (u *User) SetEmail(tx *storage.Connection, email string) error {
 
 // hashPassword generates a hashed password from a plaintext string
 func hashPassword(password string) (string, error) {
+	if len(password) > MaxPasswordLength {
+		return "", ErrPasswordTooLong
+	}
 	pw, err := bcrypt.GenerateFromPassword([]byte(password), bcrypt.DefaultCost)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
diff --git a/models/user_password_test.go b/models/user_password_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e0bae856
--- /dev/null
+++ b/models/user_password_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+package models
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestHashPasswordRejectsOverlongInput(t *testing.T) {
+	_, err := hashPassword(strings.Repeat("a", MaxPasswordLength+1))
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	assert.ErrorIs(t, err, ErrPasswordTooLong)
+}
+
+func TestHashPasswordAcceptsBoundary(t *testing.T) {
+	_, err := hashPassword(strings.Repeat("a", MaxPasswordLength))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+}