diff --git a/integration/complex/passthrough_auth/test_pool_pausing.sh b/integration/complex/passthrough_auth/test_pool_pausing.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..9180ba786
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/complex/passthrough_auth/test_pool_pausing.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+# Test that passwordless users get their pools paused when passthrough auth is enabled
+# This validates the specific feature added in the PR
+
+SCRIPT_DIR=$( cd -- "$( dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" &> /dev/null && pwd )
+export PGPASSWORD=pgdog
+export PGPORT=6432
+export PGHOST=127.0.0.1
+
+echo "🧪 Testing pool pausing for passwordless users with passthrough auth..."
+
+# Kill any existing pgdog processes
+killall -TERM pgdog 2> /dev/null || true
+sleep 1
+
+# Start pgdog with passthrough auth enabled
+echo "📦 Starting PgDog with passthrough auth enabled..."
+${SCRIPT_DIR}/../../../target/release/pgdog \
+    --config ${SCRIPT_DIR}/pgdog-enabled.toml \
+    --users ${SCRIPT_DIR}/users.toml &
+
+PGDOG_PID=$!
+sleep 2
+
+# Check if pgdog started successfully (this validates pools didn't get banned)
+if ! kill -0 $PGDOG_PID 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "❌ FAIL: PgDog process died (probably due to pool banning)"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "✅ PASS: PgDog started successfully without pool banning"
+
+# Try to connect with the passwordless user (pgdog1)
+# This should work because passthrough auth is enabled
+echo "🔑 Testing connection with passwordless user..."
+if psql -U pgdog1 pgdog -c 'SELECT 1 AS test_connection' > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "✅ PASS: Passwordless user can connect with passthrough auth"
+else
+    echo "❌ FAIL: Passwordless user cannot connect"
+    kill $PGDOG_PID 2>/dev/null || true
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Clean up
+kill $PGDOG_PID 2>/dev/null || true
+sleep 1
+
+# Test that without passthrough auth, passwordless users are properly rejected
+echo "🔒 Testing without passthrough auth (should reject passwordless user)..."
+${SCRIPT_DIR}/../../../target/release/pgdog \
+    --config ${SCRIPT_DIR}/pgdog-disabled.toml \
+    --users ${SCRIPT_DIR}/users.toml &
+
+PGDOG_PID=$!
+sleep 2
+
+# Check if pgdog started successfully 
+if ! kill -0 $PGDOG_PID 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "❌ FAIL: PgDog process died when passthrough auth disabled"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Try to connect with passwordless user - this should fail
+echo "🚫 Testing that passwordless user is rejected..."
+if psql -U pgdog1 pgdog -c 'SELECT 1' > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "❌ FAIL: Passwordless user should not be able to connect when passthrough auth disabled"
+    kill $PGDOG_PID 2>/dev/null || true
+    exit 1
+else
+    echo "✅ PASS: Passwordless user properly rejected when passthrough auth disabled"
+fi
+
+# Clean up
+kill $PGDOG_PID 2>/dev/null || true
+sleep 1
+
+echo "🎉 All tests passed! Pool pausing feature is working correctly."
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pgdog/src/backend/databases.rs b/pgdog/src/backend/databases.rs
index d35d1a35c..8c2c684bc 100644
--- a/pgdog/src/backend/databases.rs
+++ b/pgdog/src/backend/databases.rs
@@ -425,12 +425,27 @@ pub(crate) fn new_pool(
             config.multi_tenant(),
         );
 
+        // Create cluster from the configuration
+        let cluster = Cluster::new(cluster_config);
+
+        // If passthrough auth is enabled and user has no password, pause the pools
+        // to prevent connection attempts with empty credentials
+        let is_admin = user.database == config.admin.name && user.name == config.admin.user;
+        if general.passthrough_auth() && user.password().is_empty() && !is_admin {
+            // Pause all pools in the cluster before they attempt connections
+            for shard in cluster.shards() {
+                for pool in shard.pools() {
+                    pool.pause();
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         Some((
             User {
                 user: user.name.clone(),
                 database: user.database.clone(),
             },
-            Cluster::new(cluster_config),
+            cluster,
         ))
     } else {
         None