diff --git a/OpenSSH_GUI.Core/Services/SshKeyManager.cs b/OpenSSH_GUI.Core/Services/SshKeyManager.cs
index abbcfd2..2b86522 100644
--- a/OpenSSH_GUI.Core/Services/SshKeyManager.cs
+++ b/OpenSSH_GUI.Core/Services/SshKeyManager.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
-using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.Text;
 using JetBrains.Annotations;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
@@ -11,6 +10,8 @@
 using ReactiveUI.SourceGenerators;
 using Renci.SshNet;
 using SshNet.Keygen;
+using SshNet.Keygen.Extensions;
+using SshNet.Keygen.SshKeyEncryption;
 
 namespace OpenSSH_GUI.Core.Services;
 
@@ -73,8 +74,8 @@ public async ValueTask InitialSearchAsync(CancellationToken token = default)
 
     /// <summary>
     ///     Changes the password of an SSH key file, handling both OpenSSH and PuTTY formats transparently.
-    ///     If the key is in PuTTY format, it will be temporarily converted to OpenSSH, the password changed,
-    ///     and then converted back to the original format.
+    ///     The already decrypted key is re-encrypted in-process and written back in its original format.
+    ///     An empty <paramref name="newPassword" /> removes the encryption.
     /// </summary>
     /// <param name="key">The SSH key file whose password should be changed.</param>
     /// <param name="newPassword">The new password to set, encoded using <paramref name="encoding" />.</param>
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ public async ValueTask InitialSearchAsync(CancellationToken token = default)
     /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">Thrown if the resolved key file path is null or whitespace.</exception>
     /// <exception cref="TimeoutException">Thrown if the internal semaphore could not be acquired within 5 seconds.</exception>
     /// <exception cref="Exception">
-    ///     Thrown if <c>ssh-keygen</c> exits with a non-zero code, or if intermediate key file operations fail.
+    ///     Thrown if writing or reloading the re-encrypted key file fails.
     ///     On failure, all modified files are restored from backup.
     /// </exception>
     public async ValueTask<KeyManagerOperationResult> ChangePasswordOfKeyAsync(SshKeyFile key,
@@ -99,7 +100,6 @@ public async ValueTask<KeyManagerOperationResult> ChangePasswordOfKeyAsync(SshKe
         var semaphoreAcquired = false;
         var errorsOccured = false;
         BackedUpFile[] backupFiles = [];
-        string[] additionalDeleteFiles = [];
         var keyFilePath = string.Empty;
         try
         {
@@ -117,60 +117,17 @@ public async ValueTask<KeyManagerOperationResult> ChangePasswordOfKeyAsync(SshKe
             semaphoreAcquired = true;
             backupFiles = _backupService.BackupFiles(key.KeyFiles).ToArray();
 
-            if (key.Format is { } and not SshKeyFormat.OpenSSH)
-            {
-                Log(LogLevel.Debug, "Detected PuTTY key {key} - need to change format first", keyFilePath);
-                additionalDeleteFiles = (await _keyFileWriterService.WriteToFileInSpecificFormat(
-                    SshKeyFormat.OpenSSH,
-                    key.Password.ToSshKeyEncryption(), privateKeyFile, keyFilePath, true)).ToArray();
-
-                keyFilePath = additionalDeleteFiles.First(e => string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(Path.GetExtension(e)));
-                Log(LogLevel.Debug, "New file path: {newFilePath}", keyFilePath);
-            }
+            // Re-encrypt in-process: the decrypted key is already loaded, so no passphrase has to be
+            // handed to an external process (command lines are readable by other local users).
+            var format = key.Format ?? SshKeyFormat.OpenSSH;
+            var newEncryption = CreateEncryption(newPassword.Span, encoding, format);
+            var privateKeyContent = format is SshKeyFormat.OpenSSH
+                ? privateKeyFile.ToOpenSshFormat(newEncryption)
+                : privateKeyFile.ToPuttyFormat(newEncryption, format);
 
-            using var process = new Process();
-            process.StartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo
-            {
-                FileName = "ssh-keygen",
-                Arguments =
-                    $"-p -f {keyFilePath} -P \"{key.Password.GetPasswordString()}\" -N \"{encoding.GetString(newPassword.Span)}\"",
-                RedirectStandardOutput = true,
-                RedirectStandardError = true,
-                UseShellExecute = false,
-                CreateNoWindow = true
-            };
-
-            if (process.Start())
-            {
-                await process.WaitForExitAsync(token);
-                if (process.ExitCode != 0)
-                {
-                    var message = await process.StandardError.ReadToEndAsync(token);
-                    Log(
-                        LogLevel.Error, "ssh-keygen exited with code {exitCode} and message: {message}",
-                        process.ExitCode, message);
-                    throw new Exception($"ssh-keygen exited with code {process.ExitCode}");
-                }
-
-                var output = await process.StandardOutput.ReadToEndAsync(token);
-                Log(LogLevel.Debug, "ssh-keygen exited without errors and output: {message}", output);
-            }
-
-            if (key.Format is { } format and not SshKeyFormat.OpenSSH)
-            {
-                var keyFile = _keyFactory.Create();
-                keyFile.Load(SshKeyFileSource.FromDisk(keyFilePath), newPassword.Span);
-                Log(
-                    LogLevel.Debug,
-                    "Changes to the password were made in OpenSSH Format - need to change format to Putty again");
-                keyFilePath = (await _keyFileWriterService.WriteToFileInSpecificFormat(
-                    format, keyFile.Password.ToSshKeyEncryption(),
-                    keyFile.PrivateKeyFile ?? throw new Exception("Private key file not found"), keyFilePath,
-                    true)).First();
-
-                Log(LogLevel.Debug, "New file path: {newFilePath}", keyFilePath);
-                foreach (var deleteFile in additionalDeleteFiles) File.Delete(deleteFile);
-            }
+            // The public key does not change with the passphrase, only the private key file is rewritten.
+            await _keyFileWriterService.WriteToFile(keyFilePath, privateKeyContent, true);
+            Log(LogLevel.Debug, "Re-encrypted private key {key}", keyFilePath);
 
             key.Load(SshKeyFileSource.FromDisk(keyFilePath), newPassword.Span);
             Log(LogLevel.Debug, "Successfully changed password of key {key}", keyFilePath);
@@ -193,6 +150,16 @@ public async ValueTask<KeyManagerOperationResult> ChangePasswordOfKeyAsync(SshKe
         }
     }
 
+    private static ISshKeyEncryption CreateEncryption(ReadOnlySpan<byte> password, Encoding encoding,
+        SshKeyFormat format)
+    {
+        return password.IsEmpty
+            ? new SshKeyEncryptionNone()
+            : new SshKeyEncryptionAes256(
+                encoding.GetString(password),
+                format is SshKeyFormat.PuTTYv3 ? new PuttyV3Encryption() : null);
+    }
+
     /// <summary>
     ///     Attempts to delete all files associated with the given SSH key.
     ///     Unlike <see cref="ChangePasswordOfKeyAsync" />, this method does not throw on failure —
diff --git a/OpenSSH_GUI.Tests/Core/Services/SshKeyManagerPasswordTests.cs b/OpenSSH_GUI.Tests/Core/Services/SshKeyManagerPasswordTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ddc8d95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/OpenSSH_GUI.Tests/Core/Services/SshKeyManagerPasswordTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+using System.Text;
+using Avalonia.Headless.XUnit;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions;
+using NSubstitute;
+using OpenSSH_GUI.Core.Interfaces;
+using OpenSSH_GUI.Core.Lib.Keys;
+using OpenSSH_GUI.Core.Lib.Misc;
+using OpenSSH_GUI.Core.Services;
+using Renci.SshNet;
+using Renci.SshNet.Common;
+using Shouldly;
+using SshNet.Keygen;
+using SshNet.Keygen.Extensions;
+using SshNet.Keygen.SshKeyEncryption;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace OpenSSH_GUI.Tests.Core.Services;
+
+public sealed class SshKeyManagerPasswordTests : IDisposable
+{
+    private readonly string _directory = Directory.CreateTempSubdirectory("keymanager").FullName;
+
+    public void Dispose() { Directory.Delete(_directory, true); }
+
+    private static SshKeyManager CreateManager()
+    {
+        var backupService = Substitute.For<IKeyFileBackupService>();
+        backupService.BackupFiles(Arg.Any<FileInfo[]>()).Returns([]);
+        return new SshKeyManager(
+            NullLogger<SshKeyManager>.Instance,
+            Substitute.For<IDirectoryCrawler>(),
+            Substitute.For<ISshKeyFactory>(),
+            Substitute.For<ISshKeyGenerator>(),
+            new KeyFileWriterService(NullLogger<KeyFileWriterService>.Instance),
+            backupService);
+    }
+
+    private SshKeyFile LoadKey(string? passphrase, out string path)
+    {
+        path = Path.Combine(_directory, "id_test");
+        var info = new SshKeyGenerateInfo(SshKeyType.ED25519) { Comment = "test" };
+        if (passphrase is not null) info.Encryption = new SshKeyEncryptionAes256(passphrase);
+        var generated = SshKey.Generate(path, FileMode.Create, info);
+        File.WriteAllText(path + ".pub", generated.ToOpenSshPublicFormat());
+
+        var key = new SshKeyFile(Substitute.For<ILogger<SshKeyFile>>());
+        if (passphrase is null)
+            key.Load(SshKeyFileSource.FromDisk(path));
+        else
+            key.Load(SshKeyFileSource.FromDisk(path), Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(passphrase));
+        return key;
+    }
+
+    [AvaloniaTheory]
+    [InlineData("new-passphrase")]
+    [InlineData("with \"quotes\" -N and spaces")]
+    public async Task ChangePasswordOfKeyAsync_EncryptsKeyWithNewPassphrase(string newPassphrase)
+    {
+        using var manager = CreateManager();
+        var key = LoadKey(null, out var path);
+        key.PrivateKeyFile.ShouldNotBeNull();
+
+        var result = await manager.ChangePasswordOfKeyAsync(key, Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(newPassphrase));
+
+        result.IsSuccess.ShouldBeTrue();
+        Should.Throw<SshPassPhraseNullOrEmptyException>(() => new PrivateKeyFile(path));
+        Should.NotThrow(() => new PrivateKeyFile(path, newPassphrase));
+    }
+
+    [AvaloniaFact]
+    public async Task ChangePasswordOfKeyAsync_EmptyPassword_RemovesEncryption()
+    {
+        using var manager = CreateManager();
+        var key = LoadKey("old-passphrase", out var path);
+        key.PrivateKeyFile.ShouldNotBeNull();
+
+        var result = await manager.ChangePasswordOfKeyAsync(key, ReadOnlyMemory<byte>.Empty);
+
+        result.IsSuccess.ShouldBeTrue();
+
+        Should.NotThrow(() => new PrivateKeyFile(path));
+    }
+}