diff --git a/services/context/captcha.go b/services/context/captcha.go
index da837acb00..58c9205d54 100644
--- a/services/context/captcha.go
+++ b/services/context/captcha.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ package context
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"math/rand"
 	"sync"
 
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/base"
@@ -55,7 +56,9 @@ func GetImageCaptcha() string {
 	imageCaptchaOnce.Do(func() {
 		captcha.SetCustomStore(&imageCaptchaStore{c: cache.GetCache()})
 	})
-	return captcha.New()
+
+	length := 4 + rand.Intn(2) // 4 or 5 chars
+	return captcha.NewLen(length)
 }
 
 // SetCaptchaData sets common captcha data