diff --git a/public/src/admin/manage/users.js b/public/src/admin/manage/users.js
index 4776a9bad6..f3a6a77626 100644
--- a/public/src/admin/manage/users.js
+++ b/public/src/admin/manage/users.js
@@ -359,9 +359,8 @@ define('admin/manage/users', ['translator', 'benchpress', 'autocomplete'], funct
 					ajaxify.refresh();
 				});
 				app.alertSuccess('[[admin/manage/users:alerts.create-success]]');
-			}).fail(function () {
-				console.log(arguments);
-				// return errorEl.translateHtml('[[admin/manage/users:alerts.error-x, ' + err.message + ']]').removeClass('hide');
+			}).fail(function (ev) {
+				return errorEl.translateHtml('[[admin/manage/users:alerts.error-x, ' + ev.responseJSON.status.message + ']]').removeClass('d-none').addClass('d-block');
 			});
 		}
 
diff --git a/src/routes/write/users.js b/src/routes/write/users.js
index 6df2c08300..9428e1027f 100644
--- a/src/routes/write/users.js
+++ b/src/routes/write/users.js
@@ -16,8 +16,12 @@ module.exports = function () {
 	var app = require('express').Router();
 
 	app.post('/', middleware.checkRequired.bind(null, ['username']), middleware.authenticate, middleware.isAdmin, async (req, res) => {
-		const uid = await users.create(req.body);
-		helpers.formatApiResponse(200, res, await users.getUserData(uid));
+		try {
+			const uid = await users.create(req.body);
+			helpers.formatApiResponse(200, res, await users.getUserData(uid));
+		} catch (err) {
+			helpers.formatApiResponse(400, res, err);
+		}
 	});
 
 	// 	app.route('/:uid')
diff --git a/src/views/admin/partials/create_user_modal.tpl b/src/views/admin/partials/create_user_modal.tpl
index 8c3ac1d854..2e6505e81c 100644
--- a/src/views/admin/partials/create_user_modal.tpl
+++ b/src/views/admin/partials/create_user_modal.tpl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<div class="alert alert-danger hide" id="create-modal-error"></div>
+<div class="alert alert-danger d-none" id="create-modal-error"></div>
 <form>
 	<div class="form-group">
 		<label for="group-name">[[admin/manage/users:create.username]]</label>