diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/admin/pgadmin.nix b/nixos/modules/services/admin/pgadmin.nix
index 390c80d1a2d4..fb7b65171aad 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/admin/pgadmin.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/admin/pgadmin.nix
@@ -43,12 +43,19 @@ in
 
     initialPasswordFile = mkOption {
       description = lib.mdDoc ''
-        Initial password file for the pgAdmin account.
+        Initial password file for the pgAdmin account. Minimum length by default is 6.
+        Please see services.pgadmin.passwordLength.
         NOTE: Should be string not a store path, to prevent the password from being world readable
       '';
       type = types.path;
     };
 
+    passwordLength = mkOption {
+      description = lib.mdDoc "Minimum length of the password";
+      type = types.int;
+      default = 6;
+    };
+
     emailServer = {
       enable = mkOption {
         description = lib.mdDoc ''
@@ -115,6 +122,7 @@ in
 
     services.pgadmin.settings = {
       DEFAULT_SERVER_PORT = cfg.port;
+      PASSWORD_LENGTH_MIN = cfg.passwordLength;
       SERVER_MODE = true;
     } // (optionalAttrs cfg.openFirewall {
       DEFAULT_SERVER = mkDefault "::";
@@ -139,6 +147,15 @@ in
 
       preStart = ''
         # NOTE: this is idempotent (aka running it twice has no effect)
+        # Check here for password length to prevent pgadmin from starting
+        # and presenting a hard to find error message
+        # see https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/270624
+        PW_LENGTH=$(wc -m < ${escapeShellArg cfg.initialPasswordFile})
+        if [ $PW_LENGTH -lt ${toString cfg.passwordLength} ]
+          then
+            echo "Password must be at least ${toString cfg.passwordLength} characters long"
+            exit 1
+        fi
         (
           # Email address:
           echo ${escapeShellArg cfg.initialEmail}
diff --git a/nixos/tests/pgadmin4.nix b/nixos/tests/pgadmin4.nix
index 3ee7ed19fa1c..873e40d3939a 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/pgadmin4.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/pgadmin4.nix
@@ -4,31 +4,49 @@ import ./make-test-python.nix ({ pkgs, lib, ... }:
   name = "pgadmin4";
   meta.maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [ mkg20001 gador ];
 
-  nodes.machine = { pkgs, ... }: {
+  nodes = {
+    machine = { pkgs, ... }: {
 
-    imports = [ ./common/user-account.nix ];
+      imports = [ ./common/user-account.nix ];
 
-    environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
-      wget
-      curl
-      pgadmin4-desktopmode
-    ];
+      environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
+        wget
+        curl
+        pgadmin4-desktopmode
+      ];
 
-    services.postgresql = {
-      enable = true;
-      authentication = ''
-        host    all             all             localhost               trust
-      '';
+      services.postgresql = {
+        enable = true;
+        authentication = ''
+          host    all             all             localhost               trust
+        '';
+      };
+
+      services.pgadmin = {
+        port = 5051;
+        enable = true;
+        initialEmail = "bruh@localhost.de";
+        initialPasswordFile = pkgs.writeText "pw" "bruh2012!";
+      };
     };
+    machine2 = { pkgs, ... }: {
 
-    services.pgadmin = {
-      port = 5051;
-      enable = true;
-      initialEmail = "bruh@localhost.de";
-      initialPasswordFile = pkgs.writeText "pw" "bruh2012!";
+      imports = [ ./common/user-account.nix ];
+
+      services.postgresql = {
+        enable = true;
+      };
+
+      services.pgadmin = {
+        enable = true;
+        initialEmail = "bruh@localhost.de";
+        initialPasswordFile = pkgs.writeText "pw" "bruh2012!";
+        passwordLength = 12;
+      };
     };
   };
 
+
   testScript = ''
     with subtest("Check pgadmin module"):
       machine.wait_for_unit("postgresql")
@@ -49,5 +67,9 @@ import ./make-test-python.nix ({ pkgs, lib, ... }:
       machine.wait_until_succeeds("curl -sS localhost:5050")
       machine.wait_until_succeeds("curl -sS localhost:5050/browser/ | grep \"<title>pgAdmin 4</title>\" > /dev/null")
       machine.succeed("wget -nv --level=1 --spider --recursive localhost:5050/browser")
+
+    with subtest("Check pgadmin minimum password length"):
+      machine2.wait_for_unit("postgresql")
+      machine2.wait_for_console_text("Password must be at least 12 characters long")
   '';
 })