diff --git a/src/node/cli.ts b/src/node/cli.ts
index 39d38fb3..01c93349 100644
--- a/src/node/cli.ts
+++ b/src/node/cli.ts
@@ -240,6 +240,25 @@ export const optionDescriptions = (): string[] => {
   })
 }
 
+export function splitOnFirstEquals(str: string): string[] {
+  // we use regex instead of "=" to ensure we split at the first
+  // "=" and return the following substring with it
+  // important for the hashed-password which looks like this
+  // $argon2i$v=19$m=4096,t=3,p=1$0qR/o+0t00hsbJFQCKSfdQ$oFcM4rL6o+B7oxpuA4qlXubypbBPsf+8L531U7P9HYY
+  // 2 means return two items
+  // Source: https://stackoverflow.com/a/4607799/3015595
+  const split = str.split(/=(.+)/, 2)
+
+  // It should always return two elements
+  // because it's used in a place where
+  // it expected two elements
+  if (split.length === 1) {
+    split.push("")
+  }
+
+  return split
+}
+
 export const parse = (
   argv: string[],
   opts?: {
@@ -270,6 +289,7 @@ export const parse = (
       let key: keyof Args | undefined
       let value: string | undefined
       if (arg.startsWith("--")) {
+        // TODO fix this
         const split = arg.replace(/^--/, "").split("=", 2)
         key = split[0] as keyof Args
         value = split[1]
@@ -543,6 +563,7 @@ export function parseConfigFile(configFile: string, configPath: string): ConfigA
   const config = yaml.load(configFile, {
     filename: configPath,
   })
+  console.log("what is this config", config)
   if (!config || typeof config === "string") {
     throw new Error(`invalid config: ${config}`)
   }
@@ -555,9 +576,11 @@ export function parseConfigFile(configFile: string, configPath: string): ConfigA
     }
     return `--${optName}=${opt}`
   })
+  console.log("what are the configFileArgv", configFileArgv)
   const args = parse(configFileArgv, {
     configFile: configPath,
   })
+  console.log(args, "args")
   return {
     ...args,
     config: configPath,
diff --git a/src/node/routes/login.ts b/src/node/routes/login.ts
index b09585ca..6b8ab4d2 100644
--- a/src/node/routes/login.ts
+++ b/src/node/routes/login.ts
@@ -2,18 +2,9 @@ import { Router, Request } from "express"
 import { promises as fs } from "fs"
 import { RateLimiter as Limiter } from "limiter"
 import * as path from "path"
-import safeCompare from "safe-compare"
 import { rootPath } from "../constants"
 import { authenticated, getCookieDomain, redirect, replaceTemplates } from "../http"
-import {
-  getPasswordMethod,
-  handlePasswordValidation,
-  hash,
-  hashLegacy,
-  humanPath,
-  isHashLegacyMatch,
-  isHashMatch,
-} from "../util"
+import { getPasswordMethod, handlePasswordValidation, humanPath } from "../util"
 
 export enum Cookie {
   Key = "key",
diff --git a/test/unit/cli.test.ts b/test/unit/cli.test.ts
index e8164222..252bc56c 100644
--- a/test/unit/cli.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/cli.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { promises as fs } from "fs"
 import * as net from "net"
 import * as os from "os"
 import * as path from "path"
-import { Args, parse, setDefaults, shouldOpenInExistingInstance } from "../../src/node/cli"
+import { Args, parse, setDefaults, shouldOpenInExistingInstance, splitOnFirstEquals } from "../../src/node/cli"
 import { tmpdir } from "../../src/node/constants"
 import { paths } from "../../src/node/util"
 
@@ -337,6 +337,18 @@ describe("parser", () => {
       "proxy-domain": ["coder.com", "coder.org"],
     })
   })
+  it("should allow '=,$/' in strings", async () => {
+    const args = parse([
+      "--enable-proposed-api",
+      "$argon2i$v=19$m=4096,t=3,p=1$0qr/o+0t00hsbjfqcksfdq$ofcm4rl6o+b7oxpua4qlxubypbbpsf+8l531u7p9hyy",
+    ])
+    expect(args).toEqual({
+      _: [],
+      "enable-proposed-api": [
+        "$argon2i$v=19$m=4096,t=3,p=1$0qr/o+0t00hsbjfqcksfdq$ofcm4rl6o+b7oxpua4qlxubypbbpsf+8l531u7p9hyy",
+      ],
+    })
+  })
 })
 
 describe("cli", () => {
@@ -411,3 +423,28 @@ describe("cli", () => {
     expect(await shouldOpenInExistingInstance(args)).toStrictEqual(undefined)
   })
 })
+
+describe("splitOnFirstEquals", () => {
+  it("should split on the first equals", () => {
+    const testStr = "--enabled-proposed-api=test=value"
+    const actual = splitOnFirstEquals(testStr)
+    const expected = ["--enabled-proposed-api", "test=value"]
+    expect(actual).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(expected))
+  })
+  it("should split on first equals regardless of multiple equals signs", () => {
+    const testStr =
+      "--hashed-password=$argon2i$v=19$m=4096,t=3,p=1$0qR/o+0t00hsbJFQCKSfdQ$oFcM4rL6o+B7oxpuA4qlXubypbBPsf+8L531U7P9HYY"
+    const actual = splitOnFirstEquals(testStr)
+    const expected = [
+      "--hashed-password",
+      "$argon2i$v=19$m=4096,t=3,p=1$0qR/o+0t00hsbJFQCKSfdQ$oFcM4rL6o+B7oxpuA4qlXubypbBPsf+8L531U7P9HYY",
+    ]
+    expect(actual).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(expected))
+  })
+  it("should always return two elements", () => {
+    const testStr = ""
+    const actual = splitOnFirstEquals(testStr)
+    const expected = ["", ""]
+    expect(actual).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(expected))
+  })
+})