diff --git a/src/moin/apps/frontend/views.py b/src/moin/apps/frontend/views.py
index 1fff185d3..187c78134 100644
--- a/src/moin/apps/frontend/views.py
+++ b/src/moin/apps/frontend/views.py
@@ -2645,22 +2645,19 @@ class UserSettingsUIForm(Form):
                 # if no flash message was added until here, we add a generic success message
                 msg = _("Your changes have been saved.")
                 response["flash"].append((msg, "info"))
-                repeat_flash_msg(msg, "info")
-
-            if response["redirect"] is not None or not is_xhr:
-                # if we redirect or it is no XHR request, we just flash() the messages normally
-                for f in response["flash"]:
-                    flash(*f)
 
             if is_xhr:
                 # if it is a XHR request, render the part from the usersettings_ajax.html template
                 # and send the response encoded as an JSON object
                 response["form"] = render_template("usersettings_ajax.html", part=part, form=form)
                 return jsonify(**response)
-            else:
-                # if it is not a XHR request but there is an redirect pending, we use a normal HTTP redirect
-                if response["redirect"] is not None:
-                    return redirect(response["redirect"])
+
+            # if it is not a XHR request but there is an redirect pending, we use a normal HTTP redirect
+            if response["redirect"] is not None:
+                # if we redirect, we just flash() the messages normally
+                for f in response["flash"]:
+                    flash(*f)
+                return redirect(response["redirect"])
 
             # if the view did not return until here, we add the current form to the forms dict
             # and continue with rendering the normal template
diff --git a/src/moin/static/css/common.css b/src/moin/static/css/common.css
index f92bcd8ad..c7d057f4a 100644
--- a/src/moin/static/css/common.css
+++ b/src/moin/static/css/common.css
@@ -182,10 +182,15 @@ a.moin-nonexistent object {  background: var(--bg-disabled);  border: 3px dashed
 /* end of links */
 
 /* misc highlighting */
-.moin-error:before { content: url("../img/icons/admon-warning.png"); float: left; height: 100%; padding: 0 1em; }
-.moin-error { color: var(--error); background-color: var(--bg-error);
+.moin-error:before { content: url("../img/icons/admon-warning.png"); float: left; height: 100%; padding: 0 .5em; }
+.moin-error:not(input) {
+    color: var(--error);
+    background-color: var(--bg-error);
     border: 1px solid var(--border);
-    margin: 10px 30px 10px 30px; min-height: 64px; padding: 8px 8px 8px 8px; clear: both; display: inline-block; }
+    border-radius: 4px;
+    margin-top: .5em;
+    min-height: 12px;
+    padding: 8px 8px 8px 8px; clear: both; display: inline-block; }
 .moin-highlight { background-color: var(--bg-hilite); padding: 1px; }
 .moin-showhide { margin-left: 10px; }
 .moin-disabled { color: var(--disabled); }
@@ -609,6 +614,8 @@ li.moin-selected-groups { font-size: 1em; font-weight: bold; }
 .moin-form .submit-buttons{ display: flex; column-gap: 8pt; justify-content: end;
     margin: 8pt 0; }
 
+.moin-form input.moin-error { color: var(--error) }
+
 #options dd { width: 10%; }
 #options dt { width: 60%; max-width: 40em; }
 #subscriptions textarea,
diff --git a/src/moin/static/js/common.js b/src/moin/static/js/common.js
index ea77bbf95..a18bfcdac 100644
--- a/src/moin/static/js/common.js
+++ b/src/moin/static/js/common.js
@@ -471,7 +471,6 @@ MoinMoin.prototype.enhanceUserSettings = function () {
 
         // send the form to the server
         $.post(form.attr('action'), form.serialize(), function (data) {
-            var i, f, newform;
             clearInterval(buttonDotAnimation);
             // if the response indicates a redirect, set the new location
             if (data.redirect) {
@@ -480,7 +479,7 @@ MoinMoin.prototype.enhanceUserSettings = function () {
                 return;
             }
             // get the new form element from the response
-            newform = $(data.form);
+            const newform = $(data.form);
             // set event handlers on the new form
             newform.submit(submitHandler);
             newform.change(changeHandler);
@@ -488,7 +487,13 @@ MoinMoin.prototype.enhanceUserSettings = function () {
             newform.data('initialForm', newform.serialize());
             // replace the old form with the new one
             form.replaceWith(newform);
-            if (ev.currentTarget.id === 'usersettings_ui' ||  ev.currentTarget.id === 'usersettings_personal') {
+            // check if form processing gave back an error; don't reload the page
+            // in case an error is present as this would cause validation error
+            // messages present in 'newform' to get lost.
+            const has_error = 'flash' in data && data.flash[0][1] === 'error';
+            if ((ev.currentTarget.id === 'usersettings_ui' || ev.currentTarget.id === 'usersettings_personal') &&
+                !has_error
+            ) {
                 MoinMoin.prototype.saveFlashMessages(data.flash)
                 // theme or language may have changed, show user the new theme/language
                 location.reload(true);
diff --git a/src/moin/templates/forms.html b/src/moin/templates/forms.html
index 6d4af60b4..de956595e 100644
--- a/src/moin/templates/forms.html
+++ b/src/moin/templates/forms.html
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     {%- if field.errors %}
         <div>
             {%- for error in field.errors %}
-                <p><span class="moin-error">{{ error }}</span></p>
+                <span class="moin-error">{{ error }}</span>
             {% endfor %}
         </div>
     {% endif %}