diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/DefaultMutableAuthenticationDao.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/DefaultMutableAuthenticationDao.java
index 29b9f24814..42753bc333 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/DefaultMutableAuthenticationDao.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/DefaultMutableAuthenticationDao.java
@@ -86,6 +86,19 @@ public class DefaultMutableAuthenticationDao implements MutableAuthenticationDao
      * @throws AlfrescoRuntimeException if the the operation is not allowed
      */
     public void createUser(String userName, char[] rawPassword) throws AuthenticationException
+    {
+        createUser(userName, null, rawPassword);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
+     * <p/>
+     * If enabled does nothing
+     *
+     * @throws AlfrescoRuntimeException if the the operation is not allowed
+     */
+    @Override
+    public void createUser(String caseSensitiveUserName, String hashedpassword, char[] rawPassword) throws AuthenticationException
     {
         if (!allowCreateUser)
         {
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/MutableAuthenticationDao.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/MutableAuthenticationDao.java
index a368668850..004b10e342 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/MutableAuthenticationDao.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/MutableAuthenticationDao.java
@@ -35,7 +35,15 @@ public interface MutableAuthenticationDao extends AuthenticationDao, SaltSource
      * Create a user with the given userName and password
      */
     public void createUser(String userName, char[] rawPassword) throws AuthenticationException;
-    
+
+    /**
+     * Create a user with the given userName and password hash
+     * If hashedPassword is passed in then this is used, otherwise it falls back to using the rawPassword.
+     * It is assumed the hashed password has been encoded using system.preferred.password.encoding and doesn't use its
+     * own salt.
+     */
+    public void createUser(String caseSensitiveUserName, String hashedPassword, char[] rawPassword) throws AuthenticationException;
+
     /**
      * Update a user's password.
      */
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/RepositoryAuthenticationDao.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/RepositoryAuthenticationDao.java
index cda21593e7..ec7daad74b 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/RepositoryAuthenticationDao.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/RepositoryAuthenticationDao.java
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ public class RepositoryAuthenticationDao implements MutableAuthenticationDao, In
     protected PolicyComponent policyComponent;
     
     private TransactionService transactionService;
-    private CompositePasswordEncoder compositePasswordEncoder;
+    protected CompositePasswordEncoder compositePasswordEncoder;
 
 // note: cache is tenant-aware (if using TransctionalCache impl)
     
@@ -326,6 +326,12 @@ public class RepositoryAuthenticationDao implements MutableAuthenticationDao, In
 
     @Override
     public void createUser(String caseSensitiveUserName, char[] rawPassword) throws AuthenticationException
+    {
+        createUser(caseSensitiveUserName, null, rawPassword);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void createUser(String caseSensitiveUserName, String hashedPassword, char[] rawPassword) throws AuthenticationException
     {
         tenantService.checkDomainUser(caseSensitiveUserName);
 
@@ -339,7 +345,24 @@ public class RepositoryAuthenticationDao implements MutableAuthenticationDao, In
         properties.put(ContentModel.PROP_USER_USERNAME, caseSensitiveUserName);
         String salt = GUID.generate();
         properties.put(ContentModel.PROP_SALT, salt);
-        properties.put(ContentModel.PROP_PASSWORD_HASH,  compositePasswordEncoder.encodePreferred(new String(rawPassword), salt));
+
+        if (hashedPassword == null)
+        {
+            if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+            {
+                logger.debug("Hashing raw password to "+compositePasswordEncoder.getPreferredEncoding()
+                +" for "+caseSensitiveUserName);
+            }
+            hashedPassword = compositePasswordEncoder.encodePreferred(new String(rawPassword), salt);
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+            {
+                logger.debug("Using hashed password for  "+caseSensitiveUserName);
+            }
+        }
+        properties.put(ContentModel.PROP_PASSWORD_HASH, hashedPassword);
         properties.put(ContentModel.PROP_HASH_INDICATOR, (Serializable) Arrays.asList(compositePasswordEncoder.getPreferredEncoding()));
         properties.put(ContentModel.PROP_ACCOUNT_EXPIRES, Boolean.valueOf(false));
         properties.put(ContentModel.PROP_CREDENTIALS_EXPIRE, Boolean.valueOf(false));
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/ntlm/NullMutableAuthenticationDao.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/ntlm/NullMutableAuthenticationDao.java
index 02353c29a2..64cba67f60 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/ntlm/NullMutableAuthenticationDao.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/ntlm/NullMutableAuthenticationDao.java
@@ -54,7 +54,16 @@ public class NullMutableAuthenticationDao implements MutableAuthenticationDao
     {
         throw new AlfrescoRuntimeException("Not implemented");
     }
-    
+
+    /**
+     * @throws AlfrescoRuntimeException Not implemented
+     */
+    @Override
+    public void createUser(String caseSensitiveUserName, String hashedpassword, char[] rawPassword) throws AuthenticationException
+    {
+        throw new AlfrescoRuntimeException("Not implemented");
+    }
+
     /**
      * @throws AlfrescoRuntimeException Not implemented
      */
diff --git a/source/test-java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/AuthenticationTest.java b/source/test-java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/AuthenticationTest.java
index aedfe471e7..fd7747f8c6 100644
--- a/source/test-java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/AuthenticationTest.java
+++ b/source/test-java/org/alfresco/repo/security/authentication/AuthenticationTest.java
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.security.MessageDigest;
 import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -1851,7 +1853,7 @@ public class AuthenticationTest extends TestCase
         pubAuthenticationService.createAuthentication("Andy", "auth1".toCharArray());
         
         // find the node representing the Andy user and it's properties
-        NodeRef andyUserNodeRef = getAndyUserNodeRef();
+        NodeRef andyUserNodeRef = getRepositoryAuthenticationDao(). getUserOrNull("Andy");
         assertNotNull(andyUserNodeRef);
         
         // ensure the properties are in the state we're expecting
@@ -1928,7 +1930,34 @@ public class AuthenticationTest extends TestCase
         authenticationComponent.clearCurrentSecurityContext();
     }
 
-    private NodeRef getAndyUserNodeRef()
+
+    /**
+     * Tests creating a user with a Hashed password
+     */
+    public void testCreateUserWithHashedPassword() throws Exception
+    {
+        String SOME_PASSWORD = "1 passw0rd";
+        List<String> encs = Arrays.asList("bcrypt10", "md4");
+        for (String enc : encs)
+        {
+            compositePasswordEncoder.setPreferredEncoding(enc);
+            String hash = compositePasswordEncoder.encodePreferred(SOME_PASSWORD,null);
+            assertCreateHashed(SOME_PASSWORD, hash, null, "me@you.com");
+            assertCreateHashed(SOME_PASSWORD, null, SOME_PASSWORD.toCharArray(), "you@me.com");
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void assertCreateHashed(String rawString, String hash, char[] rawPassword, String user)
+    {
+        dao.createUser(user, hash, rawPassword);
+        UserDetails userDetails = (UserDetails) dao.loadUserByUsername(user);
+        assertNotNull(userDetails);
+        assertNotNull(userDetails.getPassword());
+        assertTrue(compositePasswordEncoder.matches(compositePasswordEncoder.getPreferredEncoding(), rawString, userDetails.getPassword(), null));
+        dao.deleteUser(user);
+    }
+
+    private RepositoryAuthenticationDao getRepositoryAuthenticationDao()
     {
         RepositoryAuthenticationDao dao = new RepositoryAuthenticationDao();
         dao.setTransactionService(transactionService);
@@ -1940,8 +1969,7 @@ public class AuthenticationTest extends TestCase
         dao.setPolicyComponent(policyComponent);
         dao.setAuthenticationCache(authenticationCache);
         dao.setSingletonCache(immutableSingletonCache);
-        
-        return dao.getUserOrNull("Andy");
+        return dao;
     }
 
     private String getUserName(Authentication authentication)