diff --git a/internal/util/fscrypt/fscrypt.go b/internal/util/fscrypt/fscrypt.go
index 4c70653b7..97cd502a5 100644
--- a/internal/util/fscrypt/fscrypt.go
+++ b/internal/util/fscrypt/fscrypt.go
@@ -60,7 +60,8 @@ var policyV2Support = []util.KernelVersion{
 
 // error values
 var (
-	ErrBadAuth = errors.New("key authentication check failed")
+	ErrBadAuth         = errors.New("key authentication check failed")
+	ErrEmptyPassphrase = errors.New("empty passphrase given")
 )
 
 func AppendEncyptedSubdirectory(dir string) string {
@@ -94,14 +95,35 @@ func getPassphrase(ctx context.Context, encryption util.VolumeEncryption, volID
 	return passphrase, nil
 }
 
+// resizePassphrase makes sure that the given passphrase will be of [size]
+// bytes. In case the passphrase is shorter, it will be repeated as many times
+// as needed. When a passphrase is (or becomes) longer than the requested
+// [size], the passphrase in truncated.
+func resizePassphrase(passphrase string, size int) (string, error) {
+	if passphrase == "" || size <= 0 {
+		return "", ErrEmptyPassphrase
+	}
+
+	for len(passphrase) < size {
+		passphrase += passphrase
+	}
+	if len(passphrase) > size {
+		passphrase = string([]byte(passphrase)[:size])
+	}
+
+	return passphrase, nil
+}
+
 // createKeyFuncFromVolumeEncryption returns an fscrypt key function returning
 // encryption keys from a VolumeEncryption struct.
 func createKeyFuncFromVolumeEncryption(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	encryption util.VolumeEncryption,
 	volID string,
-	keySize int,
 ) (func(fscryptactions.ProtectorInfo, bool) (*fscryptcrypto.Key, error), error) {
+	// keys must be 32 bytes, see https://github.com/google/fscrypt?tab=readme-ov-file#using-a-raw-key-protector
+	keySize := encryptionPassphraseSize / 2
+
 	keyFunc := func(info fscryptactions.ProtectorInfo, retry bool) (*fscryptcrypto.Key, error) {
 		if retry {
 			return nil, ErrBadAuth
@@ -112,9 +134,11 @@ func createKeyFuncFromVolumeEncryption(
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
-		if keySize < 0 {
-			keySize = len(passphrase)
+		passphrase, err = resizePassphrase(passphrase, keySize)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
 		}
+
 		key, err := fscryptcrypto.NewBlankKey(keySize)
 		copy(key.Data(), passphrase)
 
@@ -171,7 +195,7 @@ func unlockExisting(
 		errMsg := fmt.Sprintf("fscrypt: unlock with protector error: %v", err)
 		log.ErrorLog(ctx, "%s, retry using a null padded passphrase", errMsg)
 
-		keyFn, err = createKeyFuncFromVolumeEncryption(ctx, *volEncryption, volID, encryptionPassphraseSize/2)
+		keyFn, err = createKeyFuncFromVolumeEncryption(ctx, *volEncryption, volID)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.ErrorLog(ctx, "fscrypt: could not create key function: %v", err)
 
@@ -376,7 +400,7 @@ func Unlock(
 	stagingTargetPath string, volID string,
 ) error {
 	// Fetches keys from KMS. Do this first to catch KMS errors before setting up anything.
-	keyFn, err := createKeyFuncFromVolumeEncryption(ctx, *volEncryption, volID, -1)
+	keyFn, err := createKeyFuncFromVolumeEncryption(ctx, *volEncryption, volID)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.ErrorLog(ctx, "fscrypt: could not create key function: %v", err)
 
diff --git a/internal/util/fscrypt/fscrypt_test.go b/internal/util/fscrypt/fscrypt_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ad656545b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/util/fscrypt/fscrypt_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2025 The Ceph-CSI Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+	http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+package fscrypt
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestResizePassphrase(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	tests := []struct {
+		name       string
+		passphrase string
+		size       int
+		ret        string
+		err        error
+	}{
+		{
+			"matching passphrase size",
+			"secret",
+			6,
+			"secret",
+			nil,
+		},
+		{
+			"short passphrase",
+			"secret",
+			64,
+			"secretsecretsecretsecretsecretsecretsecretsecretsecretsecretsecr",
+			nil,
+		},
+		{
+			"long passphrase",
+			"secret",
+			2,
+			"se",
+			nil,
+		},
+		{
+			"empty passphrase",
+			"",
+			16,
+			"",
+			ErrEmptyPassphrase,
+		},
+		{
+			"zero length requested",
+			"secret",
+			0,
+			"",
+			ErrEmptyPassphrase,
+		},
+		{
+			"negative length requested",
+			"secret",
+			-32,
+			"",
+			ErrEmptyPassphrase,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+
+			ret, err := resizePassphrase(tt.passphrase, tt.size)
+			if ret != tt.ret {
+				t.Errorf("resizePassphrase() returned %q of %d bytes, expected %q of %d bytes", tt.ret, len(tt.ret), ret, len(ret))
+			}
+			if !errors.Is(err, tt.err) {
+				t.Errorf("resizePassphrase() returned %v as error, expected %v", err, tt.err)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}