diff --git a/CRM/Contact/Form/Task/Useradd.php b/CRM/Contact/Form/Task/Useradd.php
index b9a805672163..385405c6a2e1 100644
--- a/CRM/Contact/Form/Task/Useradd.php
+++ b/CRM/Contact/Form/Task/Useradd.php
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ public function buildQuickForm() {
     $this->addRule('cms_pass', 'Password is required', 'required');
     $this->addRule(['cms_pass', 'cms_confirm_pass'], 'ERROR: Password mismatch', 'compare');
     $this->add('text', 'email', ts('Email:'), ['class' => 'huge'])->freeze();
+    $this->addRule('email', 'Email is required', 'required');
     $this->add('hidden', 'contactID');
 
     //add a rule to check username uniqueness
@@ -101,8 +102,12 @@ public function postProcess() {
     // store the submitted values in an array
     $params = $this->exportValues();
 
-    CRM_Core_BAO_CMSUser::create($params, 'email');
-    CRM_Core_Session::setStatus('', ts('User Added'), 'success');
+    if (CRM_Core_BAO_CMSUser::create($params, 'email') === FALSE) {
+      CRM_Core_Error::statusBounce(ts('Error creating CMS user account.'));
+    }
+    else {
+      CRM_Core_Session::setStatus(ts('User Added'), '', 'success');
+    }
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal8.php b/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal8.php
index 53e2a67dea34..78479501e3ab 100644
--- a/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal8.php
+++ b/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal8.php
@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ public function createUser(&$params, $mail) {
     // Validate the user object
     $violations = $account->validate();
     if (count($violations)) {
+      foreach ($violations as $violation) {
+        CRM_Core_Session::setStatus($violation->getPropertyPath() . ': ' . $violation->getMessage(), '', 'alert');
+      }
       return FALSE;
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/CRM/Contact/Form/Task/UseraddTest.php b/tests/phpunit/CRM/Contact/Form/Task/UseraddTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..714a228ebf98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/phpunit/CRM/Contact/Form/Task/UseraddTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+<?php
+/*
+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | Copyright CiviCRM LLC. All rights reserved.                        |
+ |                                                                    |
+ | This work is published under the GNU AGPLv3 license with some      |
+ | permitted exceptions and without any warranty. For full license    |
+ | and copyright information, see https://civicrm.org/licensing       |
+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ */
+
+ /**
+  * @group headless
+  */
+class CRM_Contact_Form_Task_UseraddTest extends CiviUnitTestCase {
+
+  /**
+   * Test postProcess failure.
+   *
+   * In unit tests, the CMS user creation will always fail, but that's
+   * ok because that's what we're testing here.
+   */
+  public function testUserCreateFail() {
+    $form = new CRM_Contact_Form_Task_Useradd();
+    // We don't need to set params or anything because we're testing fail,
+    // which the user creation will do in unit tests no matter what we set.
+    // But before the patch, the status messages were always success no
+    // matter what.
+    try {
+      $form->postProcess();
+    }
+    catch (CRM_Core_Exception_PrematureExitException $e) {
+    }
+    $statuses = CRM_Core_Session::singleton()->getStatus(TRUE);
+    $this->assertEquals('alert', $statuses[0]['type']);
+  }
+
+}