diff --git a/common/djangoapps/student/management/commands/manage_user.py b/common/djangoapps/student/management/commands/manage_user.py
index 5932caacaf..f7cc172ac1 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/student/management/commands/manage_user.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/student/management/commands/manage_user.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand, CommandError
 from django.db import transaction
 from django.utils.translation import gettext as _
 
+from openedx.core.djangoapps.user_api.accounts.utils import generate_password
 from student.models import UserProfile
 
 
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
                 # Set the password to a random, unknown, but usable password
                 # allowing self-service password resetting.  Cases where unusable
                 # passwords are required, should be explicit, and will be handled below.
-                user.set_password(BaseUserManager().make_random_password(25))
+                user.set_password(generate_password(length=25))
             self.stderr.write(_('Created new user: "{}"').format(user))
         else:
             # NOTE, we will not update the email address of an existing user.
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/student/management/tests/test_manage_user.py b/common/djangoapps/student/management/tests/test_manage_user.py
index cdf103ca89..7daaad7249 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/student/management/tests/test_manage_user.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/student/management/tests/test_manage_user.py
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ from django.contrib.auth.models import Group, User
 from django.core.management import call_command, CommandError
 from django.test import TestCase
 
+from openedx.core.djangoapps.user_api.accounts.utils import generate_password
+
 TEST_EMAIL = 'test@example.com'
 TEST_USERNAME = 'test-user'
 
@@ -55,7 +57,7 @@ class TestManageUserCommand(TestCase):
         """
         user = User.objects.create(username=TEST_USERNAME, email=TEST_EMAIL)
         self.assertEqual([(TEST_USERNAME, TEST_EMAIL)], [(u.username, u.email) for u in User.objects.all()])
-        user.set_password(User.objects.make_random_password())
+        user.set_password(generate_password())
         user.save()
 
         # Run once without passing --unusable-password and make sure the password is usable
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/student/views/login.py b/common/djangoapps/student/views/login.py
index 78fda29311..d676c3add6 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/student/views/login.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/student/views/login.py
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ from eventtracking import tracker
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.external_auth.login_and_register import login as external_auth_login
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.external_auth.models import ExternalAuthMap
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.site_configuration import helpers as configuration_helpers
+from openedx.core.djangoapps.user_api.accounts.utils import generate_password
 from openedx.features.course_experience import course_home_url_name
 from student.cookies import delete_logged_in_cookies, set_logged_in_cookies
 from student.forms import AccountCreationForm
@@ -585,10 +586,11 @@ def auto_auth(request):
 
     # Generate a unique name to use if none provided
     generated_username = uuid.uuid4().hex[0:30]
+    generated_password = generate_password()
 
     # Use the params from the request, otherwise use these defaults
     username = request.GET.get('username', generated_username)
-    password = request.GET.get('password', username)
+    password = request.GET.get('password', generated_password)
     email = request.GET.get('email', username + "@example.com")
     full_name = request.GET.get('full_name', username)
     is_staff = str2bool(request.GET.get('staff', False))
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/student/views/management.py b/common/djangoapps/student/views/management.py
index 75866b7dda..d91498b9d6 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/student/views/management.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/student/views/management.py
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ from openedx.core.djangoapps.programs.models import ProgramsApiConfig
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.site_configuration import helpers as configuration_helpers
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.theming import helpers as theming_helpers
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.user_api import accounts as accounts_settings
+from openedx.core.djangoapps.user_api.accounts.utils import generate_password
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.user_api.preferences import api as preferences_api
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.user_api.config.waffle import PREVENT_AUTH_USER_WRITES, SYSTEM_MAINTENANCE_MSG, waffle
 from openedx.core.djangolib.markup import HTML, Text
@@ -610,7 +611,7 @@ def create_account_with_params(request, params):
     is_third_party_auth_enabled = third_party_auth.is_enabled()
 
     if is_third_party_auth_enabled and (pipeline.running(request) or third_party_auth_credentials_in_api):
-        params["password"] = pipeline.make_random_password()
+        params["password"] = generate_password()
 
     # in case user is registering via third party (Google, Facebook) and pipeline has expired, show appropriate
     # error message
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/pipeline.py b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/pipeline.py
index 02a578414b..db510c15e8 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/pipeline.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/pipeline.py
@@ -61,8 +61,6 @@ import base64
 import hashlib
 import hmac
 import json
-import random
-import string
 import urllib
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from logging import getLogger
@@ -148,8 +146,6 @@ _AUTH_ENTRY_CHOICES = frozenset([
     AUTH_ENTRY_REGISTER_API,
 ] + AUTH_ENTRY_CUSTOM.keys())
 
-_DEFAULT_RANDOM_PASSWORD_LENGTH = 12
-_PASSWORD_CHARSET = string.letters + string.digits
 
 logger = getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -430,27 +426,6 @@ def get_provider_user_states(user):
     return states
 
 
-def make_random_password(length=None, choice_fn=random.SystemRandom().choice):
-    """Makes a random password.
-
-    When a user creates an account via a social provider, we need to create a
-    placeholder password for them to satisfy the ORM's consistency and
-    validation requirements. Users don't know (and hence cannot sign in with)
-    this password; that's OK because they can always use the reset password
-    flow to set it to a known value.
-
-    Args:
-        choice_fn: function or method. Takes an iterable and returns a random
-            element.
-        length: int. Number of chars in the returned value. None to use default.
-
-    Returns:
-        String. The resulting password.
-    """
-    length = length if length is not None else _DEFAULT_RANDOM_PASSWORD_LENGTH
-    return ''.join(choice_fn(_PASSWORD_CHARSET) for _ in xrange(length))
-
-
 def running(request):
     """Returns True iff request is running a third-party auth pipeline."""
     return get(request) is not None  # Avoid False for {}.
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/tests/test_pipeline.py b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/tests/test_pipeline.py
index be128e24ed..55ea8788e6 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/tests/test_pipeline.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/tests/test_pipeline.py
@@ -11,30 +11,6 @@ from third_party_auth.tests import testutil
 # pylint: disable=protected-access
 
 
-class MakeRandomPasswordTest(testutil.TestCase):
-    """Tests formation of random placeholder passwords."""
-
-    def setUp(self):
-        super(MakeRandomPasswordTest, self).setUp()
-        self.seed = 1
-
-    def test_default_args(self):
-        self.assertEqual(pipeline._DEFAULT_RANDOM_PASSWORD_LENGTH, len(pipeline.make_random_password()))
-
-    def test_probably_only_uses_charset(self):
-        # This is ultimately probablistic since we could randomly select a good character 100000 consecutive times.
-        for char in pipeline.make_random_password(length=100000):
-            self.assertIn(char, pipeline._PASSWORD_CHARSET)
-
-    def test_pseudorandomly_picks_chars_from_charset(self):
-        random_instance = random.Random(self.seed)
-        expected = ''.join(
-            random_instance.choice(pipeline._PASSWORD_CHARSET)
-            for _ in xrange(pipeline._DEFAULT_RANDOM_PASSWORD_LENGTH))
-        random_instance.seed(self.seed)
-        self.assertEqual(expected, pipeline.make_random_password(choice_fn=random_instance.choice))
-
-
 @unittest.skipUnless(testutil.AUTH_FEATURE_ENABLED, testutil.AUTH_FEATURES_KEY + ' not enabled')
 class ProviderUserStateTestCase(testutil.TestCase):
     """Tests ProviderUserState behavior."""
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/dashboard/sysadmin.py b/lms/djangoapps/dashboard/sysadmin.py
index 2788b83029..aa820641d6 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/dashboard/sysadmin.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/dashboard/sysadmin.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ from dashboard.git_import import GitImportError
 from dashboard.models import CourseImportLog
 from edxmako.shortcuts import render_to_response
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.external_auth.models import ExternalAuthMap
-from openedx.core.djangoapps.external_auth.views import generate_password
+from openedx.core.djangoapps.user_api.accounts.utils import generate_password
 from student.models import CourseEnrollment, Registration, UserProfile
 from student.roles import CourseInstructorRole, CourseStaffRole
 from xmodule.modulestore.django import modulestore
diff --git a/openedx/core/djangoapps/external_auth/views.py b/openedx/core/djangoapps/external_auth/views.py
index 80fd430f02..470711fbe6 100644
--- a/openedx/core/djangoapps/external_auth/views.py
+++ b/openedx/core/djangoapps/external_auth/views.py
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ from edxmako.shortcuts import render_to_response, render_to_string
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.external_auth.djangostore import DjangoOpenIDStore
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.external_auth.models import ExternalAuthMap
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.site_configuration.helpers import get_value
+from openedx.core.djangoapps.user_api.accounts.utils import generate_password
 from student.helpers import get_next_url_for_login_page
 from student.models import UserProfile
 from util.db import outer_atomic
@@ -78,12 +79,6 @@ def default_render_failure(request,  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
-def generate_password(length=12, chars=string.letters + string.digits):
-    """Generate internal password for externally authenticated user"""
-    choice = random.SystemRandom().choice
-    return ''.join([choice(chars) for _i in range(length)])
-
-
 @transaction.non_atomic_requests
 @csrf_exempt
 def openid_login_complete(request,
diff --git a/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/tests/test_utils.py b/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/tests/test_utils.py
index ec8cf1f1e9..c901c865c5 100644
--- a/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ from student.tests.factories import UserFactory
 from xmodule.modulestore.tests.django_utils import SharedModuleStoreTestCase
 from xmodule.modulestore.tests.factories import CourseFactory, ItemFactory
 
-from ..utils import format_social_link, validate_social_link
+from ..utils import format_social_link, validate_social_link, generate_password
 
 
 @ddt.ddt
@@ -135,3 +135,29 @@ class CompletionUtilsTestCase(SharedModuleStoreTestCase, CompletionWaffleTestMix
             )
         )
         self.assertEqual(empty_block_url, None)
+
+
+class GeneratePasswordTest(TestCase):
+    """Tests formation of randomly generated passwords."""
+
+    def test_default_args(self):
+        password = generate_password()
+        self.assertEqual(12, len(password))
+        self.assertTrue(any(c.isdigit for c in password))
+        self.assertTrue(any(c.isalpha for c in password))
+
+    def test_length(self):
+        length = 25
+        self.assertEqual(length, len(generate_password(length=length)))
+
+    def test_chars(self):
+        char = '!'
+        password = generate_password(length=12, chars=(char,))
+
+        self.assertTrue(any(c.isdigit for c in password))
+        self.assertTrue(any(c.isalpha for c in password))
+        self.assertEqual(char * 10, password[2:])
+
+    def test_min_length(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            generate_password(length=7)
diff --git a/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/utils.py b/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/utils.py
index 50eef5e248..2967863861 100644
--- a/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/utils.py
+++ b/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/utils.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 """
 Utility methods for the account settings.
 """
+import random
 import re
+import string
 from urlparse import urlparse
 
 from django.conf import settings
@@ -176,3 +178,17 @@ def retrieve_last_sitewide_block_completed(username):
         course_key=text_type(item.location.course_key),
         location=text_type(item.location),
     )
+
+
+def generate_password(length=12, chars=string.letters + string.digits):
+    """Generate a valid random password"""
+    if length < 8:
+        raise ValueError("password must be at least 8 characters")
+
+    choice = random.SystemRandom().choice
+
+    password = ''
+    password += choice(string.digits)
+    password += choice(string.letters)
+    password += ''.join([choice(chars) for _i in xrange(length - 2)])
+    return password