diff --git a/src/Access/AccessEntityIO.cpp b/src/Access/AccessEntityIO.cpp
index 53b073cb750..cc1b7eee807 100644
--- a/src/Access/AccessEntityIO.cpp
+++ b/src/Access/AccessEntityIO.cpp
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ AccessEntityPtr deserializeAccessEntityImpl(const String & definition)
             if (res)
                 throw Exception(ErrorCodes::INCORRECT_ACCESS_ENTITY_DEFINITION, "Two access entities attached in the same file");
             res = user = std::make_unique<User>();
-            InterpreterCreateUserQuery::updateUserFromQuery(*user, *create_user_query, /* allow_no_password = */ true, /* allow_plaintext_password = */ true, /* max_number_of_authentication_methods = */ std::numeric_limits<std::size_t>::max());
+            InterpreterCreateUserQuery::updateUserFromQuery(*user, *create_user_query, /* allow_no_password = */ true, /* allow_plaintext_password = */ true, /* max_number_of_authentication_methods = zero is unlimited*/ 0);
         }
         else if (auto * create_role_query = query->as<ASTCreateRoleQuery>())
         {
diff --git a/src/Core/ServerSettings.h b/src/Core/ServerSettings.h
index ee5eefddc83..dab6401157d 100644
--- a/src/Core/ServerSettings.h
+++ b/src/Core/ServerSettings.h
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ namespace DB
     M(UInt64, max_part_num_to_warn, 100000lu, "If the number of parts is greater than this value, the server will create a warning that will displayed to user.", 0) \
     M(UInt64, max_table_num_to_throw, 0lu, "If number of tables is greater than this value, server will throw an exception. 0 means no limitation. View, remote tables, dictionary, system tables are not counted. Only count table in Atomic/Ordinary/Replicated/Lazy database engine.", 0) \
     M(UInt64, max_database_num_to_throw, 0lu, "If number of databases is greater than this value, server will throw an exception. 0 means no limitation.", 0) \
-    M(UInt64, max_authentication_methods_per_user, 100, "The maximum number of authentication methods a user can be created with or altered. Changing this setting does not affect existing users.", 0) \
+    M(UInt64, max_authentication_methods_per_user, 100, "The maximum number of authentication methods a user can be created with or altered. Changing this setting does not affect existing users. Zero means unlimited", 0) \
     M(UInt64, concurrent_threads_soft_limit_num, 0, "Sets how many concurrent thread can be allocated before applying CPU pressure. Zero means unlimited.", 0) \
     M(UInt64, concurrent_threads_soft_limit_ratio_to_cores, 0, "Same as concurrent_threads_soft_limit_num, but with ratio to cores.", 0) \
     \
diff --git a/src/Interpreters/Access/InterpreterCreateUserQuery.cpp b/src/Interpreters/Access/InterpreterCreateUserQuery.cpp
index 50d627bfe85..467de1e025c 100644
--- a/src/Interpreters/Access/InterpreterCreateUserQuery.cpp
+++ b/src/Interpreters/Access/InterpreterCreateUserQuery.cpp
@@ -90,7 +90,8 @@ namespace
             user.authentication_methods.emplace_back(backup_authentication_method);
         }
 
-        if (!authentication_methods.empty())
+        // max_number_of_authentication_methods == 0 means unlimited
+        if (!authentication_methods.empty() && max_number_of_authentication_methods != 0)
         {
             // we only check if user exceeds the allowed quantity of authentication methods in case the create/alter query includes
             // authentication information. Otherwise, we can bypass this check to avoid blocking non-authentication related alters.