diff --git a/config/config.sample.php b/config/config.sample.php
index 6ea23ee4bc..0c0ace521e 100644
--- a/config/config.sample.php
+++ b/config/config.sample.php
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ $CONFIG = array(
 /* Prefix for the OwnCloud tables in the database */
 "dbtableprefix" => "",
 
+/* Define the salt used to hash the user passwords. All your user passwords are lost if you lose this string. */
+"passwordsalt" => "",
+
 /* Force use of HTTPS connection (true = use HTTPS) */
 "forcessl" => false,
 
diff --git a/lib/setup.php b/lib/setup.php
index a096fdbb4c..5f1fb1525e 100644
--- a/lib/setup.php
+++ b/lib/setup.php
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ class OC_Setup {
 				$dbtype='sqlite3';
 			}
 
+			//generate a random salt that is used to salt the local user passwords
+			$salt=mt_rand(1000,9000).mt_rand(1000,9000).mt_rand(1000,9000).mt_rand(1000,9000).mt_rand(1000,9000).mt_rand(1000,9000).mt_rand(1000,9000).mt_rand(1000,9000);
+			OC_Config::setValue('passwordsalt', $salt);
+
 			//write the config file
 			OC_Config::setValue('datadirectory', $datadir);
  			OC_Config::setValue('dbtype', $dbtype);
diff --git a/lib/user/database.php b/lib/user/database.php
index 769ba6a792..bb077c8364 100644
--- a/lib/user/database.php
+++ b/lib/user/database.php
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class OC_User_Database extends OC_User_Backend {
 			return false;
 		}else{
 			$hasher=$this->getHasher();
-			$hash = $hasher->HashPassword($password);
+			$hash = $hasher->HashPassword($password.OC_Config::getValue('passwordsalt', ''));
 			$query = OC_DB::prepare( "INSERT INTO `*PREFIX*users` ( `uid`, `password` ) VALUES( ?, ? )" );
 			$result = $query->execute( array( $uid, $hash));
 
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ class OC_User_Database extends OC_User_Backend {
 	public function setPassword( $uid, $password ){
 		if( $this->userExists($uid) ){
 			$hasher=$this->getHasher();
-			$hash = $hasher->HashPassword($password);
+			$hash = $hasher->HashPassword($password.OC_Config::getValue('passwordsalt', ''));
 			$query = OC_DB::prepare( "UPDATE *PREFIX*users SET password = ? WHERE uid = ?" );
 			$result = $query->execute( array( $hash, $uid ));
 
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ class OC_User_Database extends OC_User_Backend {
 			$storedHash=$row['password'];
 			if (substr($storedHash,0,1)=='$'){//the new phpass based hashing
 				$hasher=$this->getHasher();
-				if($hasher->CheckPassword($password, $storedHash)){
+				if($hasher->CheckPassword($password.OC_Config::getValue('passwordsalt', ''), $storedHash)){
 					return $row['uid'];
 				}else{
 					return false;