diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/caddyauth/caddyauth.go b/modules/caddyhttp/caddyauth/caddyauth.go
index 792c198ee..de8e13f89 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/caddyauth/caddyauth.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/caddyauth/caddyauth.go
@@ -32,10 +32,10 @@ func init() {
 // Authentication is a middleware which provides user authentication.
 // Rejects requests with HTTP 401 if the request is not authenticated.
 //
-// After a successful authentication, the placeholder
+// When an authentication provider returns user information, the placeholder
 // `{http.auth.user.id}` will be set to the username, and also
 // `{http.auth.user.*}` placeholders may be set for any authentication
-// modules that provide user metadata.
+// modules that provide user metadata, even if authentication is rejected.
 //
 // In case of an error, the placeholder `{http.auth.<provider>.error}`
 // will be set to the error message returned by the authentication
@@ -91,6 +91,12 @@ func (a Authentication) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next c
 			repl.Set("http.auth."+provName+".error", err.Error())
 			continue
 		}
+		if authed || user.ID != "" || len(user.Metadata) > 0 {
+			repl.Set("http.auth.user.id", user.ID)
+			for k, v := range user.Metadata {
+				repl.Set("http.auth.user."+k, v)
+			}
+		}
 		if authed {
 			break
 		}
@@ -99,11 +105,6 @@ func (a Authentication) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next c
 		return caddyhttp.Error(http.StatusUnauthorized, fmt.Errorf("not authenticated"))
 	}
 
-	repl.Set("http.auth.user.id", user.ID)
-	for k, v := range user.Metadata {
-		repl.Set("http.auth.user."+k, v)
-	}
-
 	return next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
 }
 
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/caddyauth/caddyauth_test.go b/modules/caddyhttp/caddyauth/caddyauth_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1f7211137
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/caddyauth/caddyauth_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+// Copyright 2015 Matthew Holt and The Caddy Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package caddyauth
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
+	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/caddyhttp"
+)
+
+func TestAuthenticationSetsUserPlaceholdersOnUnauthorized(t *testing.T) {
+	repl := caddy.NewReplacer()
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/", nil)
+	req = req.WithContext(context.WithValue(req.Context(), caddy.ReplacerCtxKey, repl))
+
+	a := Authentication{
+		Providers: map[string]Authenticator{
+			"test": staticAuthenticator{
+				user: User{
+					ID: "alice",
+					Metadata: map[string]string{
+						"role": "admin",
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	nextCalled := false
+	err := a.ServeHTTP(httptest.NewRecorder(), req, caddyhttp.HandlerFunc(func(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error {
+		nextCalled = true
+		return nil
+	}))
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected unauthorized error")
+	}
+
+	var handlerErr caddyhttp.HandlerError
+	if !errors.As(err, &handlerErr) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected caddyhttp.HandlerError, got %T", err)
+	}
+	if handlerErr.StatusCode != http.StatusUnauthorized {
+		t.Fatalf("expected status %d, got %d", http.StatusUnauthorized, handlerErr.StatusCode)
+	}
+	if nextCalled {
+		t.Fatal("next handler was called")
+	}
+
+	if got, ok := repl.GetString("http.auth.user.id"); !ok || got != "alice" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected http.auth.user.id to be alice, got %q (ok=%v)", got, ok)
+	}
+	if got, ok := repl.GetString("http.auth.user.role"); !ok || got != "admin" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected http.auth.user.role to be admin, got %q (ok=%v)", got, ok)
+	}
+}
+
+type staticAuthenticator struct {
+	user   User
+	authed bool
+	err    error
+}
+
+func (s staticAuthenticator) Authenticate(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) (User, bool, error) {
+	return s.user, s.authed, s.err
+}