diff --git a/pkg/auth/agent_local_authenticator.go b/pkg/auth/agent_local_authenticator.go
index c7e8e823821..946771c6b01 100644
--- a/pkg/auth/agent_local_authenticator.go
+++ b/pkg/auth/agent_local_authenticator.go
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/go-openapi/runtime/security"
 	"github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v4"
 	"github.com/openshift/assisted-service/internal/common"
-	"github.com/openshift/assisted-service/pkg/ocm"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
@@ -80,7 +79,7 @@ func (a *AgentLocalAuthenticator) authenticateToken(token string) (interface{},
 	exp, found := claims["exp"].(float64)
 	if !found {
 		// exp claim is not found in the case of install workflow
-		return ocm.AdminPayload(), nil
+		return claims, nil
 	}
 	// in the case of addnodes workflow, check if the token is expired
 	expTime := time.Unix(int64(exp), 0)
@@ -89,7 +88,7 @@ func (a *AgentLocalAuthenticator) authenticateToken(token string) (interface{},
 		a.log.Error(err)
 		return nil, common.NewInfraError(http.StatusUnauthorized, err)
 	}
-	return ocm.AdminPayload(), nil
+	return claims, nil
 }
 
 func (a *AgentLocalAuthenticator) AuthAgentAuth(token string) (interface{}, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/auth/agent_local_authz_handler.go b/pkg/auth/agent_local_authz_handler.go
index 4a95d2b209e..a1b04bf47a4 100644
--- a/pkg/auth/agent_local_authz_handler.go
+++ b/pkg/auth/agent_local_authz_handler.go
@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/go-openapi/runtime/middleware"
 	"github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v4"
 	"github.com/openshift/assisted-service/internal/common"
+	"github.com/openshift/assisted-service/restapi"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"gorm.io/gorm"
 )
@@ -58,49 +58,15 @@ func (a *AgentLocalAuthzHandler) authorizerMiddleware(request *http.Request) err
 	}
 }
 
-func JWTMiddleware(request *http.Request, authScheme string) (jwt.MapClaims, error) {
-	var authHeader string
-	switch authScheme {
-	// Agent authentication works with the "Authorization" header, but we explicitly set the "X-Secret-Key" header
-	// as it's the recommended header for assisted-installer-agent. The choice of header depends on the annotations
-	// in the swagger.yaml for the specific endpoint.
-	// For endpoints tagged with both agentAuth and userAuth, either "X-Secret-Key" or "Authorization" can be used.
-	// However, for ABI, we assume the three different user personas (agentAuth, userAuth, watcherAuth) have distinct roles.
-	// Therefore, we generate separate tokens for each persona and select the appropriate token based on the header.
-	// AuthAgentAuth could function with the "Authorization" header and the AuthUserAuth token if both agentAuth
-	// and userAuth are defined for the same endpoint.
-	case "agentAuth":
-		// AuthAgentAuth Applies when the "X-Secret-Key" header is set
-		// Refer assisted-installer-agent codebase
-		// used by agent service
-		authHeader = request.Header.Get("X-Secret-Key")
-	case "userAuth":
-		// AuthUserAuth Applies when the "Authorization" header is set
-		// used by ABI'S systemd services
-		authHeader = request.Header.Get("Authorization")
-	case "watcherAuth":
-		// AuthWatcherAuth Applies when the "Watcher-Authorization" header is set
-		// used by ABI's wait-for and monitor commands
-		authHeader = request.Header.Get("Watcher-Authorization")
-	default:
-		authHeader = ""
-	}
-	if authHeader == "" {
-		return nil, errors.New("missing authorization header")
+func (a *AgentLocalAuthzHandler) agentInstallerAuthorizer(request *http.Request, authScheme string) error {
+	payload := request.Context().Value(restapi.AuthKey)
+	if payload == nil {
+		return common.NewApiError(http.StatusInternalServerError, fmt.Errorf("payload missing from authenticated context"))
 	}
 
-	tokenString := strings.TrimPrefix(authHeader, "Bearer ")
-
-	claims := jwt.MapClaims{}
-	_, _, err := new(jwt.Parser).ParseUnverified(tokenString, claims)
-
-	return claims, err
-}
-
-func (a *AgentLocalAuthzHandler) agentInstallerAuthorizer(request *http.Request, authScheme string) error {
-	claims, err := JWTMiddleware(request, authScheme)
-	if err != nil {
-		return common.NewApiError(http.StatusInternalServerError, fmt.Errorf("claims error: %s", err))
+	claims, ok := payload.(jwt.MapClaims)
+	if !ok {
+		return common.NewApiError(http.StatusInternalServerError, fmt.Errorf("malformed claims payload"))
 	}
 
 	authClaim, ok := claims["auth_scheme"].(string)
diff --git a/pkg/ocm/utils.go b/pkg/ocm/utils.go
index e82312d6774..58ba7d49d55 100644
--- a/pkg/ocm/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/ocm/utils.go
@@ -48,7 +48,11 @@ func PayloadFromContext(ctx context.Context) *AuthPayload {
 		// fallback to system-admin
 		return AdminPayload()
 	}
-	return payload.(*AuthPayload)
+	authPayload, ok := payload.(*AuthPayload)
+	if !ok {
+		return AdminPayload()
+	}
+	return authPayload
 }
 
 // UserNameFromContext returns username from the specified context