diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9129c5e3..07f3dfe3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ coverage.*
 *.cover
 *.py,cover
 nosetests.xml
+tmp
 
 # Coverage / test reports
 htmlcov/
diff --git a/vibes_auth/graphene/mutations.py b/vibes_auth/graphene/mutations.py
index beae9d70..8d48db91 100644
--- a/vibes_auth/graphene/mutations.py
+++ b/vibes_auth/graphene/mutations.py
@@ -118,9 +118,9 @@ class UpdateUser(BaseMutation):
 
         phone_number = kwargs.get("phone_number")
 
-        if (phone_number is not None and not is_valid_phone_number(phone_number)) or User.objects.filter(
+        if (phone_number is not None and not is_valid_phone_number(phone_number)) or (User.objects.filter(
             phone_number=phone_number
-        ).exclude(uuid=uuid).exists():
+        ).exclude(uuid=uuid).exists() and phone_number is not None):
             raise BadRequest(_(f"malformed phone number: {phone_number}"))
 
         password = kwargs.get("password", "")