diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c49bd65..116b7ea 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ docker compose up --build -d
 # → http://localhost:8080  (put Caddy/nginx in front for TLS; see Caddyfile.example / nginx.example.conf)
 ```
 
-Users sign in with their Stalwart mailbox credentials (TOTP codes are supported via the "two-factor code" field, which Stalwart accepts as `password$code`).
+Users sign in with their Stalwart mailbox credentials. **An account with two-factor authentication needs an app password**, created in Stalwart's own settings: Stalwart accepts a TOTP code only through an OAuth flow — its web interface is an OAuth client, which is why signing in *there* works — and it offers no password grant, so no client holding a username and password can exchange them plus a code for a token. The concatenated `password$code` form this README used to claim was accepted is not a route the server has. App passwords bypass TOTP and are Stalwart's own answer for clients like this one; ihasmail already relies on that, since turning 2FA on moves the current session onto an app password for exactly this reason.
 
 ## Development
 
@@ -306,6 +306,7 @@ works the same way — and dropped where 0.15 was the whole subject. Support for
 
 - Snooze (nothing in JMAP or Stalwart supports it, and ihasmail never stores a password, so nothing could act on a mailbox while you are away)
 - Translations (strings are English-only for now)
+- **Two-factor sign-in.** Today an account with 2FA must use an app password (see Quick start). Supporting a TOTP code directly means implementing OAuth: Stalwart offers the authorization-code and device flows and no password grant, so ihasmail would hand sign-in to Stalwart's own login and come back with a token. That is a better security posture than the sealed password it holds now — a refresh token rather than a credential — but it replaces ihasmail's own sign-in page for those users and may need an OAuth client registered. Reported as [#75](https://github.com/LINUXexpert-org/ihasmail/issues/75)
 
 ## License
 
diff --git a/server/src/account.test.ts b/server/src/account.test.ts
index c5dbd84..7f6df7a 100644
--- a/server/src/account.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/account.test.ts
@@ -174,3 +174,33 @@ test("credential endpoints reject unauthenticated callers", async () => {
   assert.equal((await post("/api/account/2fa/begin", {})).status, 401);
   cookie = saved;
 });
+
+/**
+ * A sign-in carrying a two-factor code that the server rejects is almost never
+ * "wrong password". Stalwart accepts TOTP only through an OAuth flow and offers
+ * no password grant, so the concatenated form ihasmail sends cannot work — and
+ * saying "invalid credentials" sends the user to check a password that is fine.
+ *
+ * Reported as #75: 2FA sign-in failed with a bare 401 while an app password
+ * worked, which is Stalwart's documented route and gave no hint of itself.
+ */
+test("a rejected sign-in carrying a TOTP code explains itself", async () => {
+  const saved = cookie;
+  cookie = "";
+  const res = await post("/api/auth/login", { username: "demo@example.com", password: "demo-password", totp: "123456" });
+  cookie = saved;
+  assert.equal(res.status, 401);
+  assert.equal(res.body.error, "totp_unsupported", "not the generic invalid_credentials");
+  assert.match(res.body.message, /app password/i, "points at the route that does work");
+  assert.match(res.body.message, /probably fine/i, "does not blame the password");
+});
+
+test("a rejected sign-in without a code is still a plain credential failure", async () => {
+  // The explanation must not leak onto ordinary typos.
+  const saved = cookie;
+  cookie = "";
+  const res = await post("/api/auth/login", { username: "demo@example.com", password: "wrong" });
+  cookie = saved;
+  assert.equal(res.status, 401);
+  assert.equal(res.body.error, "invalid_credentials");
+});
diff --git a/server/src/app.ts b/server/src/app.ts
index 23ca031..f0dab0f 100644
--- a/server/src/app.ts
+++ b/server/src/app.ts
@@ -206,6 +206,32 @@ export function createApp(): Hono<Env> {
       const info = await getAccountInfo(session.id, session.authorization, upstream);
       return c.json(localizeSession(upstream, sessionExtras(session, info)));
     } catch (err) {
+      // A rejected sign-in that carried a two-factor code is worth explaining
+      // rather than calling "invalid credentials", because the credentials are
+      // very likely fine.
+      //
+      // Stalwart accepts a TOTP code only through an OAuth flow -- its own web
+      // interface is an OAuth client, which is why signing in there works. It
+      // offers no password grant, so a client holding a username and password
+      // cannot exchange them plus a code for a token, and the concatenated
+      // `password$code` form ihasmail sent is not a route the server has. Its
+      // documented answer for clients like this one is an app password, which
+      // bypasses TOTP entirely.
+      //
+      // ihasmail already relies on that elsewhere: turning 2FA *on* mints an
+      // app password and moves the session onto it, precisely because a plain
+      // password stops working from that moment. The sign-in page was the one
+      // place still pretending otherwise.
+      if (totp && err instanceof UpstreamError && err.status === 401) {
+        return c.json(
+          {
+            error: "totp_unsupported",
+            message:
+              "This mail server does not accept two-factor codes from webmail. Sign in with an app password instead — create one in Stalwart's own settings, under app passwords. Your password and code are probably fine.",
+          },
+          401,
+        );
+      }
       return upstreamFailure(c, err);
     }
   });
diff --git a/web/src/views/Login.tsx b/web/src/views/Login.tsx
index d2ad56f..54b3dd7 100644
--- a/web/src/views/Login.tsx
+++ b/web/src/views/Login.tsx
@@ -79,7 +79,19 @@ export function LoginPage() {
           <div className="field">
             <label htmlFor="t">Two-factor code</label>
             <input id="t" className="input" inputMode="numeric" autoComplete="one-time-code" placeholder="123456" value={totp} onChange={(e) => setTotp(e.target.value)} autoFocus />
-            <span className="hint">Enter the code from your authenticator app if your account uses 2FA.</span>
+            {/*
+              Kept, and honest about itself. Stalwart accepts a TOTP code only
+              through an OAuth flow, and offers no password grant, so no client
+              holding a username and password can pass one — the field cannot
+              work here today. It stays because someone with 2FA will look for
+              it, and finding nothing is worse than finding this; the hint sends
+              them somewhere that does work, and the server explains it again if
+              they try anyway.
+            */}
+            <span className="hint">
+              Most mail servers, Stalwart included, do not accept two-factor codes from webmail — use an app password instead, created in
+              your mail server's own settings. This field is here for servers that do.
+            </span>
           </div>
         ) : (
           <button type="button" className="btn btn-ghost btn-sm" style={{ marginBottom: 12, color: "var(--fg-muted)" }} onClick={() => setShowTotp(true)}>