diff --git a/lib/puppet/parser/functions/mysql_password.rb b/lib/puppet/parser/functions/mysql_password.rb
index f057a31..b8a6cda 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/parser/functions/mysql_password.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/parser/functions/mysql_password.rb
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ module Puppet::Parser::Functions
     raise(Puppet::ParseError, 'mysql_password(): Wrong number of arguments ' +
       "given (#{args.size} for 1)") if args.size != 1
 
+    return '' if args[0].empty?
     '*' + Digest::SHA1.hexdigest(Digest::SHA1.digest(args[0])).upcase
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/mysql_user.rb b/lib/puppet/type/mysql_user.rb
index c408ccd..dbff3da 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/mysql_user.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/mysql_user.rb
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ Puppet::Type.newtype(:mysql_user) do
 
   newproperty(:password_hash) do
     desc 'The password hash of the user. Use mysql_password() for creating such a hash.'
-    newvalue(/\w+/)
+    newvalue(/\w*/)
   end
 
   newproperty(:max_user_connections) do
diff --git a/spec/unit/puppet/functions/mysql_password_spec.rb b/spec/unit/puppet/functions/mysql_password_spec.rb
index 77726d1..14aebd9 100644
--- a/spec/unit/puppet/functions/mysql_password_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/puppet/functions/mysql_password_spec.rb
@@ -23,5 +23,10 @@ describe 'the mysql_password function' do
     result = scope.function_mysql_password(%w(password))
     expect(result).to(eq('*2470C0C06DEE42FD1618BB99005ADCA2EC9D1E19'))
   end
+  
+  it 'should convert an empty password into a empty string' do
+    result = scope.function_mysql_password([""])
+    expect(result).to(eq(''))
+  end
 
 end