diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b7eab1dacc..188e8d0631 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ var server = ParseServer({
   passwordPolicy: {
     // Two optional settings to enforce strong passwords. Either one or both can be specified. 
     // If both are specified, both checks must pass to accept the password
-    // 1. a RegExp representing the pattern to enforce 
+    // 1. a RegExp object or a regex string representing the pattern to enforce 
     validatorPattern: /^(?=.*[a-z])(?=.*[A-Z])(?=.*[0-9])(?=.{8,})/, // enforce password with at least 8 char with at least 1 lower case, 1 upper case and 1 digit
     // 2. a callback function to be invoked to validate the password  
     validatorCallback: (password) => { return validatePassword(password) }, 
diff --git a/spec/PasswordPolicy.spec.js b/spec/PasswordPolicy.spec.js
index 4f385821ae..cdd6b27484 100644
--- a/spec/PasswordPolicy.spec.js
+++ b/spec/PasswordPolicy.spec.js
@@ -147,14 +147,14 @@ describe("Password Policy: ", () => {
     reconfigureServer({
       appName: 'passwordPolicy',
       passwordPolicy: {
-        validatorPattern: "abc" // string is not a valid setting
+        validatorPattern: 1234 // number is not a valid setting
       },
       publicServerURL: "http://localhost:8378/1"
     }).then(() => {
       fail('passwordPolicy.validatorPattern type test failed');
       done();
     }).catch(err => {
-      expect(err).toEqual('passwordPolicy.validatorPattern must be a RegExp.');
+      expect(err).toEqual('passwordPolicy.validatorPattern must be a regex string or RegExp object.');
       done();
     });
   });
@@ -197,6 +197,28 @@ describe("Password Policy: ", () => {
     })
   });
 
+  it('signup should fail if password does not conform to the policy enforced using validatorPattern string', (done) => {
+    const user = new Parse.User();
+    reconfigureServer({
+      appName: 'passwordPolicy',
+      passwordPolicy: {
+        validatorPattern: "^.{8,}"  // password should contain at least 8 char
+      },
+      publicServerURL: "http://localhost:8378/1"
+    }).then(() => {
+      user.setUsername("user1");
+      user.setPassword("less");
+      user.set('email', 'user1@parse.com');
+      user.signUp().then(() => {
+        fail('Should have failed as password does not conform to the policy.');
+        done();
+      }).catch((error) => {
+        expect(error.code).toEqual(142);
+        done();
+      });
+    })
+  });
+
   it('signup should succeed if password conforms to the policy enforced using validatorPattern', (done) => {
     const user = new Parse.User();
     reconfigureServer({
@@ -231,6 +253,40 @@ describe("Password Policy: ", () => {
     })
   });
 
+  it('signup should succeed if password conforms to the policy enforced using validatorPattern string', (done) => {
+    const user = new Parse.User();
+    reconfigureServer({
+      appName: 'passwordPolicy',
+      passwordPolicy: {
+        validatorPattern: "[!@#$]+"  // password should contain at least one special char
+      },
+      publicServerURL: "http://localhost:8378/1"
+    }).then(() => {
+      user.setUsername("user1");
+      user.setPassword("p@sswrod");
+      user.set('email', 'user1@parse.com');
+      user.signUp().then(() => {
+        Parse.User.logOut().then(() => {
+          Parse.User.logIn("user1", "p@sswrod").then(function () {
+            done();
+          }).catch((err) => {
+            jfail(err);
+            fail("Should be able to login");
+            done();
+          });
+        }).catch((error) => {
+          jfail(error);
+          fail('logout should have succeeded');
+          done();
+        });
+      }).catch((error) => {
+        jfail(error);
+        fail('Signup should have succeeded as password conforms to the policy.');
+        done();
+      });
+    })
+  });
+
   it('signup should fail if password does not conform to the policy enforced using validatorCallback', (done) => {
     const user = new Parse.User();
     reconfigureServer({
@@ -409,12 +465,12 @@ describe("Password Policy: ", () => {
               fail("should login with new password");
               done();
             });
-          }).catch((error)=> {
+          }).catch((error) => {
             jfail(error);
             fail("Failed to POST request password reset");
             done();
           });
-        }).catch((error)=> {
+        }).catch((error) => {
           jfail(error);
           fail("Failed to get the reset link");
           done();
@@ -839,7 +895,7 @@ describe("Password Policy: ", () => {
     reconfigureServer({
       appName: 'passwordPolicy',
       passwordPolicy: {
-        maxPasswordAge: 0.5/(24*60*60) // 0.5 sec
+        maxPasswordAge: 0.5 / (24 * 60 * 60) // 0.5 sec
       },
       publicServerURL: "http://localhost:8378/1"
     }).then(() => {
@@ -880,7 +936,7 @@ describe("Password Policy: ", () => {
           reconfigureServer({
             appName: 'passwordPolicy',
             passwordPolicy: {
-              maxPasswordAge: 0.5/(24*60*60) // 0.5 sec
+              maxPasswordAge: 0.5 / (24 * 60 * 60) // 0.5 sec
             },
             publicServerURL: "http://localhost:8378/1"
           }).then(() => {
@@ -979,7 +1035,7 @@ describe("Password Policy: ", () => {
       appName: 'passwordPolicy',
       emailAdapter: emailAdapter,
       passwordPolicy: {
-        maxPasswordAge: 0.5/(24*60*60) // 0.5 sec
+        maxPasswordAge: 0.5 / (24 * 60 * 60) // 0.5 sec
       },
       publicServerURL: "http://localhost:8378/1"
     }).then(() => {
diff --git a/src/Config.js b/src/Config.js
index ed0b51248b..01b15303f4 100644
--- a/src/Config.js
+++ b/src/Config.js
@@ -127,10 +127,16 @@ export class Config {
         throw 'passwordPolicy.resetTokenValidityDuration must be a positive number';
       }
 
-      if(passwordPolicy.validatorPattern && !(passwordPolicy.validatorPattern instanceof RegExp)) {
-        throw 'passwordPolicy.validatorPattern must be a RegExp.';
+      if(passwordPolicy.validatorPattern){
+        if(typeof(passwordPolicy.validatorPattern) === 'string') {
+          passwordPolicy.validatorPattern = new RegExp(passwordPolicy.validatorPattern);
+        }
+        else if(!(passwordPolicy.validatorPattern instanceof RegExp)){
+          throw 'passwordPolicy.validatorPattern must be a regex string or RegExp object.';
+        }
       }
 
+
       if(passwordPolicy.validatorCallback && typeof passwordPolicy.validatorCallback !== 'function') {
         throw 'passwordPolicy.validatorCallback must be a function.';
       }