diff --git a/backend/validators/user.api.validator.js b/backend/validators/user.api.validator.js
index 88278bd73..6909f9221 100644
--- a/backend/validators/user.api.validator.js
+++ b/backend/validators/user.api.validator.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ async function validateCreateUserAPICall(req, res, next) {
   await body('email', 'Invalid email')
     .exists()
     .isEmail()
-    .normalizeEmail({ gmail_remove_dots: false })
+    .normalizeEmail({ gmail_remove_dots: false, gmail_remove_subaddress: false })
     .run(req);
 
   // Finds the validation errors in this request and wraps them in an object with handy functions
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ async function validateSigninUserAPICall(req, res, next) {
   await body('email', 'Invalid email')
     .exists()
     .isEmail()
-    .normalizeEmail({ gmail_remove_dots: false })
+    .normalizeEmail({ gmail_remove_dots: false, gmail_remove_subaddress: false })
     .run(req);
 
   // Finds the validation errors in this request and wraps them in an object with handy functions