diff --git a/libraries/ESP8266WiFi/src/ESP8266WiFiSTA.cpp b/libraries/ESP8266WiFi/src/ESP8266WiFiSTA.cpp
index 03744f363..201b9a3cc 100644
--- a/libraries/ESP8266WiFi/src/ESP8266WiFiSTA.cpp
+++ b/libraries/ESP8266WiFi/src/ESP8266WiFiSTA.cpp
@@ -117,8 +117,11 @@ wl_status_t ESP8266WiFiSTAClass::begin(const char* ssid, const char *passphrase,
 
     struct station_config conf;
     strcpy(reinterpret_cast<char*>(conf.ssid), ssid);
+    
+    conf.threshold.authmode = AUTH_OPEN;
 
     if(passphrase) {
+        conf.threshold.authmode = AUTH_WPA_PSK;
         if (strlen(passphrase) == 64) // it's not a passphrase, is the PSK, which is copied into conf.password without null term
             memcpy(reinterpret_cast<char*>(conf.password), passphrase, 64);
         else
@@ -130,9 +133,6 @@ wl_status_t ESP8266WiFiSTAClass::begin(const char* ssid, const char *passphrase,
     conf.threshold.rssi = -127;
     conf.open_and_wep_mode_disable = !(_useInsecureWEP || *conf.password == 0);
 
-    // TODO(#909): set authmode to AUTH_WPA_PSK if passphrase is provided
-    conf.threshold.authmode = AUTH_OPEN;
-
     if(bssid) {
         conf.bssid_set = 1;
         memcpy((void *) &conf.bssid[0], (void *) bssid, 6);