diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/psdate.c b/usr.sbin/pw/psdate.c
index 94d2a343375f..8c833b5c69c7 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/psdate.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/psdate.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ static const char rcsid[] =
 #include "psdate.h"
 
 
-static int
+int
 numerics(char const * str)
 {
 
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/psdate.h b/usr.sbin/pw/psdate.h
index bb71da304707..29bfb3397f37 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/psdate.h
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/psdate.h
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 #include <sys/cdefs.h>
 
 __BEGIN_DECLS
+int numerics(char const * str);
 time_t parse_date(time_t dt, char const * str);
 void print_date(char *buf, time_t t, int dotime);
 __END_DECLS
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw.8 b/usr.sbin/pw/pw.8
index 5a93c52bee60..e848979ee519 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw.8
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw.8
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 .\"
 .\" $FreeBSD$
 .\"
-.Dd September 12, 2016
+.Dd December 10, 2017
 .Dt PW 8
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -611,6 +611,14 @@ that the account expires.
 A value of 0 suppresses automatic calculation of the expiry date.
 .It Fl p Ar days
 Set the default password expiration period in days.
+When
+.Fl D
+is used, the
+.Ar days
+argument is interpreted differently.
+It must be numeric and represents the number of days after creation
+that the account expires.
+A value of 0 suppresses automatic calculation of the expiry date.
 .It Fl g Ar group
 Set the default group for new users.
 If a blank group is specified using
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw.h b/usr.sbin/pw/pw.h
index 816c75556584..fde3ce3ef69d 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw.h
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw.h
@@ -48,6 +48,14 @@ enum _mode
         M_NUM
 };
 
+enum _passmode
+{
+	P_NO,
+	P_NONE,
+	P_RANDOM,
+	P_YES
+};
+
 enum _which
 {
         W_USER,
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_conf.c b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_conf.c
index e1dc6825e81a..36bb8b61e9d1 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_conf.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_conf.c
@@ -200,18 +200,18 @@ passwd_val(char const * str, int dflt)
 
 		for (i = 0; booltrue[i]; i++)
 			if (strcmp(str, booltrue[i]) == 0)
-				return 1;
+				return P_YES;
 		for (i = 0; boolfalse[i]; i++)
 			if (strcmp(str, boolfalse[i]) == 0)
-				return 0;
+				return P_NO;
 
 		/*
 		 * Special cases for defaultpassword
 		 */
 		if (strcmp(str, "random") == 0)
-			return -1;
+			return P_RANDOM;
 		if (strcmp(str, "none") == 0)
-			return -2;
+			return P_NONE;
 
 		errx(1, "Invalid value for default password");
 	}
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_user.c b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_user.c
index 395564d1f004..b797c04ef445 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_user.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_user.c
@@ -517,7 +517,9 @@ pw_password(struct userconf * cnf, char const * user, bool dryrun)
 	char            pwbuf[32];
 
 	switch (cnf->default_password) {
-	case -1:		/* Random password */
+	case P_NONE:		/* No password at all! */
+		return "";
+	case P_RANDOM:			/* Random password */
 		l = (arc4random() % 8 + 8);	/* 8 - 16 chars */
 		for (i = 0; i < l; i++)
 			pwbuf[i] = chars[arc4random_uniform(sizeof(chars)-1)];
@@ -533,17 +535,13 @@ pw_password(struct userconf * cnf, char const * user, bool dryrun)
 			fflush(stdout);
 		}
 		break;
-
-	case -2:		/* No password at all! */
-		return "";
-
-	case 0:		/* No login - default */
-	default:
-		return "*";
-
-	case 1:		/* user's name */
+	case P_YES:		/* user's name */
 		strlcpy(pwbuf, user, sizeof(pwbuf));
 		break;
+	case P_NO:		/* No login - default */
+				/* FALLTHROUGH */
+	default:
+		return "*";
 	}
 	return pw_pwcrypt(pwbuf);
 }
@@ -1124,11 +1122,20 @@ validate_mode(char *mode)
 	return (m);
 }
 
+static long
+validate_expire(char *str, int opt)
+{
+	if (!numerics(str))
+		errx(EX_DATAERR, "-%c argument must be numeric "
+		     "when setting defaults: %s", (char)opt, str);
+	return strtol(str, NULL, 0);
+}
+
 static void
 mix_config(struct userconf *cmdcnf, struct userconf *cfg)
 {
 
-	if (cmdcnf->default_password == 0)
+	if (cmdcnf->default_password < 0)
 		cmdcnf->default_password = cfg->default_password;
 	if (cmdcnf->reuse_uids == 0)
 		cmdcnf->reuse_uids = cfg->reuse_uids;
@@ -1166,9 +1173,9 @@ mix_config(struct userconf *cmdcnf, struct userconf *cfg)
 		cmdcnf->min_gid = cfg->min_gid;
 	if (cmdcnf->max_gid == 0)
 		cmdcnf->max_gid = cfg->max_gid;
-	if (cmdcnf->expire_days == 0)
+	if (cmdcnf->expire_days < 0)
 		cmdcnf->expire_days = cfg->expire_days;
-	if (cmdcnf->password_days == 0)
+	if (cmdcnf->password_days < 0)
 		cmdcnf->password_days = cfg->password_days;
 }
 
@@ -1200,6 +1207,9 @@ pw_user_add(int argc, char **argv, char *arg1)
 	if ((cmdcnf = calloc(1, sizeof(struct userconf))) == NULL)
 		err(EXIT_FAILURE, "calloc()");
 
+	cmdcnf->default_password = cmdcnf->expire_days = cmdcnf->password_days = -1; 
+	now = time(NULL);
+
 	if (arg1 != NULL) {
 		if (arg1[strspn(arg1, "0123456789")] == '\0')
 			id = pw_checkid(arg1, UID_MAX);
@@ -1228,12 +1238,16 @@ pw_user_add(int argc, char **argv, char *arg1)
 			homedir = optarg;
 			break;
 		case 'e':
-			now = time(NULL);
-			cmdcnf->expire_days = parse_date(now, optarg);
+			if (genconf)
+			    cmdcnf->expire_days = validate_expire(optarg, ch);
+			else
+			    cmdcnf->expire_days = parse_date(now, optarg);
 			break;
 		case 'p':
-			now = time(NULL);
-			cmdcnf->password_days = parse_date(now, optarg);
+			if (genconf)
+			    cmdcnf->password_days = validate_expire(optarg, ch);
+			else
+			    cmdcnf->password_days = parse_date(now, optarg);
 			break;
 		case 'g':
 			validate_grname(cmdcnf, optarg);
@@ -1371,8 +1385,12 @@ pw_user_add(int argc, char **argv, char *arg1)
 	pwd->pw_uid = pw_uidpolicy(cmdcnf, id);
 	pwd->pw_gid = pw_gidpolicy(cnf, grname, pwd->pw_name,
 	    (gid_t) pwd->pw_uid, dryrun);
-	pwd->pw_change = cmdcnf->password_days;
-	pwd->pw_expire = cmdcnf->expire_days;
+	
+	if (cmdcnf->password_days > 0)
+		pwd->pw_change = now + cmdcnf->password_days * 86400L;
+	if (cmdcnf->expire_days > 0)
+		pwd->pw_expire = now + cmdcnf->expire_days * 86400L;
+
 	pwd->pw_dir = pw_homepolicy(cmdcnf, homedir, pwd->pw_name);
 	pwd->pw_shell = pw_shellpolicy(cmdcnf);
 	lc = login_getpwclass(pwd);
@@ -1513,6 +1531,7 @@ pw_user_mod(int argc, char **argv, char *arg1)
 	class = nispasswd = NULL;
 	quiet = createhome = pretty = dryrun = nis = precrypted = false;
 	edited = false;
+	now = time(NULL);
 
 	if (arg1 != NULL) {
 		if (arg1[strspn(arg1, "0123456789")] == '\0')
@@ -1542,11 +1561,9 @@ pw_user_mod(int argc, char **argv, char *arg1)
 			homedir = optarg;
 			break;
 		case 'e':
-			now = time(NULL);
 			expire_days = parse_date(now, optarg);
 			break;
 		case 'p':
-			now = time(NULL);
 			password_days = parse_date(now, optarg);
 			break;
 		case 'g':
@@ -1681,13 +1698,14 @@ pw_user_mod(int argc, char **argv, char *arg1)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (password_days >= 0 && pwd->pw_change != password_days) {
-		pwd->pw_change = password_days;
+
+	if (password_days >= 0) {
+		pwd->pw_change = now + password_days * 86400L;
 		edited = true;
 	}
 
-	if (expire_days >= 0 && pwd->pw_expire != expire_days) {
-		pwd->pw_expire = expire_days;
+	if (expire_days >= 0) {
+		pwd->pw_expire = now + expire_days * 86400L;
 		edited = true;
 	}