diff --git a/apps/wolfsshd/auth.c b/apps/wolfsshd/auth.c
index f59afbb5..8a83d1ab 100644
--- a/apps/wolfsshd/auth.c
+++ b/apps/wolfsshd/auth.c
@@ -299,8 +299,7 @@ static int CheckPasswordHashUnix(const char* input, char* stored)
     }
 
     /* empty password case */
-    if (WSTRLEN(stored) == 0 && WSTRLEN(input) == 0 &&
-            WSTRCMP(input, stored) == 0) {
+    if (stored[0] == 0 && WSTRLEN(input) == 0) {
         wolfSSH_Log(WS_LOG_INFO,
                     "[SSHD] User logged in with empty password");
         return ret;