diff --git a/extra_tests/snippets/stdlib_pwd.py b/extra_tests/snippets/stdlib_pwd.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6ef3a64d02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extra_tests/snippets/stdlib_pwd.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import sys
+# windows doesn't support pwd
+if sys.platform.startswith("win"):
+    exit(0)
+
+from testutils import assert_raises
+import pwd
+
+with assert_raises(KeyError):
+    fake_name = 'fake_user'
+    while pwd.getpwnam(fake_name):
+        fake_name += '1'
diff --git a/vm/src/stdlib/pwd.rs b/vm/src/stdlib/pwd.rs
index f6c277242c..f638fd2066 100644
--- a/vm/src/stdlib/pwd.rs
+++ b/vm/src/stdlib/pwd.rs
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ mod pwd {
         if pw_name.contains('\0') {
             return Err(exceptions::cstring_error(vm));
         }
-        let user = User::from_name(name.as_str()).map_err(|err| err.into_pyexception(vm))?;
+        let user = User::from_name(name.as_str()).ok().flatten();
         let user = user.ok_or_else(|| {
             vm.new_key_error(
                 vm.ctx