diff --git a/api/src/passports/mfa.strategy.ts b/api/src/passports/mfa.strategy.ts
index 8caf5ba687..19287e1998 100644
--- a/api/src/passports/mfa.strategy.ts
+++ b/api/src/passports/mfa.strategy.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import { defaultValidationPipeOptions } from '../utilities/default-validation-pi
 import { Login } from '../dtos/auth/login.dto';
 import { MfaType } from '../enums/mfa/mfa-type-enum';
 import {
-  isUserLockedOut,
+  checkUserLockout,
   singleUseCodePresent,
   singleUseCodeInvalid,
 } from '../utilities/passport-validator-utilities';
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ export class MfaStrategy extends PassportStrategy(Strategy, 'mfa') {
         `user ${dto.email} attempted to log in, but does not exist`,
       );
     }
-    isUserLockedOut(
+    //check if user is locked out and update failed login attempts count
+    rawUser.failedLoginAttemptsCount = checkUserLockout(
       rawUser.lastLoginAt,
       rawUser.failedLoginAttemptsCount,
       Number(process.env.AUTH_LOCK_LOGIN_AFTER_FAILED_ATTEMPTS),
diff --git a/api/src/passports/single-use-code.strategy.ts b/api/src/passports/single-use-code.strategy.ts
index f04d367abe..76acdc9c3e 100644
--- a/api/src/passports/single-use-code.strategy.ts
+++ b/api/src/passports/single-use-code.strategy.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import { defaultValidationPipeOptions } from '../utilities/default-validation-pi
 import { LoginViaSingleUseCode } from '../dtos/auth/login-single-use-code.dto';
 import { OrderByEnum } from '../enums/shared/order-by-enum';
 import {
-  isUserLockedOut,
+  checkUserLockout,
   singleUseCodePresent,
   singleUseCodeInvalid,
 } from '../utilities/passport-validator-utilities';
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ export class SingleUseCodeStrategy extends PassportStrategy(
       );
     }
 
-    isUserLockedOut(
+    rawUser.failedLoginAttemptsCount = checkUserLockout(
       rawUser.lastLoginAt,
       rawUser.failedLoginAttemptsCount,
       Number(process.env.AUTH_LOCK_LOGIN_AFTER_FAILED_ATTEMPTS),
diff --git a/api/src/utilities/passport-validator-utilities.ts b/api/src/utilities/passport-validator-utilities.ts
index 1b7030e994..e89cac71ed 100644
--- a/api/src/utilities/passport-validator-utilities.ts
+++ b/api/src/utilities/passport-validator-utilities.ts
@@ -6,14 +6,14 @@ import { HttpException, HttpStatus } from '@nestjs/common';
  * @param failedLoginAttemptsCount the number of times the user failed to log in (stored in db)
  * @param maxAttempts the maximum number of attempts before user is considered locked out (env variable)
  *
- * @returns throws error if user is already locked out
+ * @returns updated value of failed login attempts
  */
-export function isUserLockedOut(
+export function checkUserLockout(
   lastLoginAt: Date,
   failedLoginAttemptsCount: number,
   maxAttempts: number,
   cooldown: number,
-): void {
+): number {
   if (lastLoginAt && failedLoginAttemptsCount >= maxAttempts) {
     // if a user has logged in, but has since gone over their max failed login attempts
     const retryAfter = new Date(lastLoginAt.getTime() + cooldown);
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ export function isUserLockedOut(
       );
     }
   }
+  return failedLoginAttemptsCount;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/api/test/unit/passports/passport-validator-utilities.spec.ts b/api/test/unit/passports/passport-validator-utilities.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..23e0edb242
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/test/unit/passports/passport-validator-utilities.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import { checkUserLockout } from '../../../src/utilities/passport-validator-utilities';
+
+describe('Testing checkUserLockout', () => {
+  it('should return without erroring and set failedLoginAttemptsCount to be 0 if lockout expired', () => {
+    const val = {
+      lastLoginAt: new Date('01/01/2024'),
+      failedLoginAttemptsCount: 5,
+    };
+    const updatedFailedLoginCount = checkUserLockout(
+      val.lastLoginAt,
+      val.failedLoginAttemptsCount,
+      5,
+      10,
+    );
+    expect(updatedFailedLoginCount).toEqual(0);
+  });
+
+  it('should return without erroring and leave failed login count unchanged if user is and was not locked out', () => {
+    const val = {
+      lastLoginAt: new Date('01/01/2024'),
+      failedLoginAttemptsCount: 2,
+    };
+    const updatedFailedLoginCount = checkUserLockout(
+      val.lastLoginAt,
+      val.failedLoginAttemptsCount,
+      5,
+      10,
+    );
+    expect(updatedFailedLoginCount).toEqual(2);
+  });
+
+  it('should error if user is still in lockout period', () => {
+    const val = {
+      lastLoginAt: new Date(),
+      failedLoginAttemptsCount: 5,
+    };
+    expect(
+      async () =>
+        await checkUserLockout(
+          val.lastLoginAt,
+          val.failedLoginAttemptsCount,
+          5,
+          10,
+        ),
+    ).rejects.toThrowError(`Failed login attempts exceeded.`);
+  });
+});