diff --git a/test/initial_sharding_multi.py b/test/initial_sharding_multi.py
index a8b8c243152..998864e3f67 100755
--- a/test/initial_sharding_multi.py
+++ b/test/initial_sharding_multi.py
@@ -121,21 +121,15 @@ def setUpModule():
       fd.write(init_db)
       fd.write('''
 # Set real passwords for all users.
+ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'RootPass';
+ALTER USER 'vt_dba'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'VtDbaPass';
+ALTER USER 'vt_app'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'VtAppPass';
+ALTER USER 'vt_allprivs'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'VtAllPrivsPass';
+ALTER USER 'vt_repl'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'VtReplPass';
+ALTER USER 'vt_filtered'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'VtFilteredPass';
+
 # connecting through a port requires 127.0.0.1
 # --host=localhost will connect through socket
-UPDATE mysql.user SET %s = PASSWORD('RootPass')
-  WHERE User = 'root' AND Host = 'localhost';
-UPDATE mysql.user SET %s = PASSWORD('VtDbaPass')
-  WHERE User = 'vt_dba' AND Host = 'localhost';
-UPDATE mysql.user SET %s = PASSWORD('VtAppPass')
-  WHERE User = 'vt_app' AND Host = 'localhost';
-UPDATE mysql.user SET %s = PASSWORD('VtAllprivsPass')
-  WHERE User = 'vt_allprivs' AND Host = 'localhost';
-UPDATE mysql.user SET %s = PASSWORD('VtReplPass')
-  WHERE User = 'vt_repl' AND Host = '%%';
-UPDATE mysql.user SET %s = PASSWORD('VtFilteredPass')
-  WHERE User = 'vt_filtered' AND Host = 'localhost';
-
 CREATE USER 'vt_dba'@'127.0.0.1' IDENTIFIED BY 'VtDbaPass';
 GRANT ALL ON *.* TO 'vt_dba'@'127.0.0.1';
 GRANT GRANT OPTION ON *.* TO 'vt_dba'@'127.0.0.1';
@@ -167,7 +161,7 @@ def setUpModule():
   ON *.* TO 'vt_filtered'@'127.0.0.1';
 
 FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
-''' % tuple([password_col] * 6))
+''')
     credentials = {
         'vt_dba': ['VtDbaPass'],
         'vt_app': ['VtAppPass'],