diff --git a/initdb.py b/initdb.py
index 0f78dd4..94e7057 100755
--- a/initdb.py
+++ b/initdb.py
@@ -83,9 +83,12 @@ def get_students_from_csv(filename):
 # replace password by hash for a single student
 def hashpw(student, pw=None):
     print('.', end='', flush=True)
-    pw = (pw or student.get('pw', None) or student['uid']).encode('utf-8')
-    student['pw'] = bcrypt.hashpw(pw, bcrypt.gensalt())
-
+    # pw = (pw or student.get('pw', None) or student['uid']).encode('utf-8')
+    if pw is None:
+        student['pw'] = ''
+    else:
+        student['pw'] = bcrypt.hashpw(pw.encode('utf-8'), bcrypt.gensalt())
+        
 
 # ===========================================================================
 def insert_students_into_db(session, students):
--
libgit2 0.21.2