1 files changed, 4 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/libbb/update_passwd.c b/libbb/update_passwd.c
index 3aab40175..ba773fcb2 100644
--- a/libbb/update_passwd.c
+++ b/libbb/update_passwd.c
@@ -110,8 +110,11 @@ int FAST_FUNC update_passwd(const char *filename,
                 old_fp = fopen(filename, "r+");
         else
                 old_fp = fopen_or_warn(filename, "r+");
-        if (!old_fp)
+        if (!old_fp) {
+                if (shadow)
+                        ret = 0; /* missing shadow is not an error */
                 goto free_mem;
+        }
         old_fd = fileno(old_fp);
 
         selinux_preserve_fcontext(old_fd);