diff --git a/internal/authentication/file_user_provider.go b/internal/authentication/file_user_provider.go
index e8511fe32..e8969e900 100644
--- a/internal/authentication/file_user_provider.go
+++ b/internal/authentication/file_user_provider.go
@@ -35,8 +35,15 @@ func NewFileUserProvider(filepath string) *FileUserProvider {
 	database, err := readDatabase(filepath)
 	if err != nil {
 		// Panic since the file does not exist when Authelia is starting.
-		panic(err)
+		panic(err.Error())
 	}
+
+	// Early check whether hashed passwords are correct for all users
+	err = checkPasswordHashes(database)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err.Error())
+	}
+
 	return &FileUserProvider{
 		path:     &filepath,
 		database: database,
@@ -44,24 +51,34 @@ func NewFileUserProvider(filepath string) *FileUserProvider {
 	}
 }
 
+func checkPasswordHashes(database *DatabaseModel) error {
+	for u, v := range database.Users {
+		_, err := ParseHash(v.HashedPassword)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Unable to parse hash of user %s: %s", u, err)
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func readDatabase(path string) (*DatabaseModel, error) {
 	content, err := ioutil.ReadFile(path)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unable to read database from file %s: %s", path, err)
 	}
 	db := DatabaseModel{}
 	err = yaml.Unmarshal(content, &db)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unable to parse database: %s", err)
 	}
 
 	ok, err := govalidator.ValidateStruct(db)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Invalid schema of database: %s", err)
 	}
 
 	if !ok {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("The database format is invalid: %s", err.Error())
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("The database format is invalid: %s", err)
 	}
 	return &db, nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/authentication/file_user_provider_test.go b/internal/authentication/file_user_provider_test.go
index bb07fc4bf..2e3d03a25 100644
--- a/internal/authentication/file_user_provider_test.go
+++ b/internal/authentication/file_user_provider_test.go
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func TestShouldUpdatePassword(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestShouldRaiseWhenLoadingMalformedDatabaseForFirstTime(t *testing.T) {
 	WithDatabase(MalformedUserDatabaseContent, func(path string) {
-		assert.Panics(t, func() {
+		assert.PanicsWithValue(t, "Unable to parse database: yaml: line 4: mapping values are not allowed in this context", func() {
 			NewFileUserProvider(path)
 		})
 	})
@@ -92,7 +92,15 @@ func TestShouldRaiseWhenLoadingMalformedDatabaseForFirstTime(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestShouldRaiseWhenLoadingDatabaseWithBadSchemaForFirstTime(t *testing.T) {
 	WithDatabase(BadSchemaUserDatabaseContent, func(path string) {
-		assert.Panics(t, func() {
+		assert.PanicsWithValue(t, "Invalid schema of database: Users: non zero value required", func() {
+			NewFileUserProvider(path)
+		})
+	})
+}
+
+func TestShouldRaiseWhenLoadingDatabaseWithBadHashesForTheFirstTime(t *testing.T) {
+	WithDatabase(BadHashContent, func(path string) {
+		assert.PanicsWithValue(t, "Unable to parse hash of user john: Cannot match pattern 'rounds=<int>' to find the number of rounds", func() {
 			NewFileUserProvider(path)
 		})
 	})
@@ -165,3 +173,16 @@ users:
     password: "$6$rounds=500000$jgiCMRyGXzoqpxS3$w2pJeZnnH8bwW3zzvoMWtTRfQYsHbWbD/hquuQ5vUeIyl9gdwBIt6RWk2S6afBA0DPakbeWgD/4SZPiS0hYtU/"
     email: james.dean@authelia.com
 `)
+
+var BadHashContent = []byte(`
+users:
+  john:
+    password: "$6$rounds00000$jgiCMRyGXzoqpxS3$w2pJeZnnH8bwW3zzvoMWtTRfQYsHbWbD/hquuQ5vUeIyl9gdwBIt6RWk2S6afBA0DPakbeWgD/4SZPiS0hYtU/"
+    email: john.doe@authelia.com
+    groups:
+      - admins
+      - dev
+  james:
+    password: "$6$rounds=500000$jgiCMRyGXzoqpxS3$w2pJeZnnH8bwW3zzvoMWtTRfQYsHbWbD/hquuQ5vUeIyl9gdwBIt6RWk2S6afBA0DPakbeWgD/4SZPiS0hYtU/"
+    email: james.dean@authelia.com
+`)