diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 3d4e380a..d292716b 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ ENV OLLAMA_API_BASE_URL "/ollama/api"
 ENV OPENAI_API_BASE_URL ""
 ENV OPENAI_API_KEY ""
 
-ENV WEBUI_JWT_SECRET_KEY "SECRET_KEY"
+ENV WEBUI_SECRET_KEY ""
 
 WORKDIR /app/backend
 
diff --git a/backend/apps/web/models/auths.py b/backend/apps/web/models/auths.py
index 367db3ff..02d2ab86 100644
--- a/backend/apps/web/models/auths.py
+++ b/backend/apps/web/models/auths.py
@@ -5,12 +5,7 @@ import uuid
 from peewee import *
 
 from apps.web.models.users import UserModel, Users
-from utils.utils import (
-    verify_password,
-    get_password_hash,
-    bearer_scheme,
-    create_token,
-)
+from utils.utils import verify_password
 
 from apps.web.internal.db import DB
 
diff --git a/backend/apps/web/routers/auths.py b/backend/apps/web/routers/auths.py
index f45c67ac..d06539f8 100644
--- a/backend/apps/web/routers/auths.py
+++ b/backend/apps/web/routers/auths.py
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ async def update_password(
 async def signin(form_data: SigninForm):
     user = Auths.authenticate_user(form_data.email.lower(), form_data.password)
     if user:
-        token = create_token(data={"email": user.email})
+        token = create_token(data={"id": user.id})
 
         return {
             "token": token,
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ async def signup(request: Request, form_data: SignupForm):
         )
 
         if user:
-            token = create_token(data={"email": user.email})
+            token = create_token(data={"id": user.id})
             # response.set_cookie(key='token', value=token, httponly=True)
 
             return {
diff --git a/backend/apps/web/routers/chats.py b/backend/apps/web/routers/chats.py
index 29214229..d2830095 100644
--- a/backend/apps/web/routers/chats.py
+++ b/backend/apps/web/routers/chats.py
@@ -25,9 +25,6 @@ from apps.web.models.tags import (
     Tags,
 )
 
-from utils.utils import (
-    bearer_scheme,
-)
 from constants import ERROR_MESSAGES
 
 router = APIRouter()
diff --git a/backend/config.py b/backend/config.py
index 36457fec..ac121ede 100644
--- a/backend/config.py
+++ b/backend/config.py
@@ -98,12 +98,15 @@ WEBUI_VERSION = os.environ.get("WEBUI_VERSION", "v1.0.0-alpha.61")
 WEBUI_AUTH = True
 
 ####################################
-# WEBUI_JWT_SECRET_KEY
+# WEBUI_SECRET_KEY
 ####################################
 
-WEBUI_JWT_SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get("WEBUI_JWT_SECRET_KEY", "t0p-s3cr3t")
+WEBUI_SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get(
+    "WEBUI_SECRET_KEY",
+    os.environ.get("WEBUI_JWT_SECRET_KEY", "t0p-s3cr3t")  # DEPRECATED: remove at next major version
+)
 
-if WEBUI_AUTH and WEBUI_JWT_SECRET_KEY == "":
+if WEBUI_AUTH and WEBUI_SECRET_KEY == "":
     raise ValueError(ERROR_MESSAGES.ENV_VAR_NOT_FOUND)
 
 ####################################
diff --git a/backend/start.sh b/backend/start.sh
index 09a791fc..c9f5a05b 100755
--- a/backend/start.sh
+++ b/backend/start.sh
@@ -3,5 +3,20 @@
 SCRIPT_DIR=$( cd -- "$( dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" &> /dev/null && pwd )
 cd "$SCRIPT_DIR" || exit
 
+KEY_FILE=.webui_secret_key
+
 PORT="${PORT:-8080}"
-exec uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port "$PORT" --forwarded-allow-ips '*'
+if test "$WEBUI_SECRET_KEY $WEBUI_JWT_SECRET_KEY" = " "; then
+  echo No WEBUI_SECRET_KEY provided
+
+  if ! [ -e "$KEY_FILE" ]; then
+    echo Generating WEBUI_SECRET_KEY
+    # Generate a random value to use as a WEBUI_SECRET_KEY in case the user didn't provide one.
+    echo $(head -c 12 /dev/random | base64) > $KEY_FILE
+  fi
+
+  echo Loading WEBUI_SECRET_KEY from $KEY_FILE
+  WEBUI_SECRET_KEY=`cat $KEY_FILE`
+fi
+
+WEBUI_SECRET_KEY="$WEBUI_SECRET_KEY" exec uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port "$PORT" --forwarded-allow-ips '*'
diff --git a/backend/utils/utils.py b/backend/utils/utils.py
index be500ce3..2795a613 100644
--- a/backend/utils/utils.py
+++ b/backend/utils/utils.py
@@ -14,14 +14,14 @@ import config
 logging.getLogger("passlib").setLevel(logging.ERROR)
 
 
-JWT_SECRET_KEY = config.WEBUI_JWT_SECRET_KEY
+SESSION_SECRET = config.WEBUI_SECRET_KEY
 ALGORITHM = "HS256"
 
 ##############
 # Auth Utils
 ##############
 
-bearer_scheme = HTTPBearer()
+bearer_security = HTTPBearer()
 pwd_context = CryptContext(schemes=["bcrypt"], deprecated="auto")
 
 
@@ -42,13 +42,13 @@ def create_token(data: dict, expires_delta: Union[timedelta, None] = None) -> st
         expire = datetime.utcnow() + expires_delta
         payload.update({"exp": expire})
 
-    encoded_jwt = jwt.encode(payload, JWT_SECRET_KEY, algorithm=ALGORITHM)
+    encoded_jwt = jwt.encode(payload, SESSION_SECRET, algorithm=ALGORITHM)
     return encoded_jwt
 
 
 def decode_token(token: str) -> Optional[dict]:
     try:
-        decoded = jwt.decode(token, JWT_SECRET_KEY, options={"verify_signature": False})
+        decoded = jwt.decode(token, SESSION_SECRET, algorithms=[ALGORITHM])
         return decoded
     except Exception as e:
         return None
@@ -58,10 +58,10 @@ def extract_token_from_auth_header(auth_header: str):
     return auth_header[len("Bearer ") :]
 
 
-def get_current_user(auth_token: HTTPAuthorizationCredentials = Depends(HTTPBearer())):
+def get_current_user(auth_token: HTTPAuthorizationCredentials = Depends(bearer_security)):
     data = decode_token(auth_token.credentials)
-    if data != None and "email" in data:
-        user = Users.get_user_by_email(data["email"])
+    if data != None and "id" in data:
+        user = Users.get_user_by_id(data["id"])
         if user is None:
             raise HTTPException(
                 status_code=status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED,
diff --git a/docker-compose.yaml b/docker-compose.yaml
index 7cd1bde0..eb0a8a90 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ services:
       - ${OLLAMA_WEBUI_PORT-3000}:8080
     environment:
       - 'OLLAMA_API_BASE_URL=http://ollama:11434/api'
+      - 'WEBUI_SECRET_KEY='
     extra_hosts:
       - host.docker.internal:host-gateway
     restart: unless-stopped