diff --git a/src/middlewares/auth.ts b/src/middlewares/auth.ts
index c27e6188..d18c2578 100644
--- a/src/middlewares/auth.ts
+++ b/src/middlewares/auth.ts
@@ -27,14 +27,16 @@ export async function expressAuthentication(
   securityName: string,
   _scopes?: string[],
 ) {
-  // // API_KEY bypass logic (support api_key, x-api-key, apikey)
-  // const apiKeyHeader =
-  //   request.headers["api-key"] || request.headers["x-api-key"] || request.headers["apikey"];
-  // if (apiKeyHeader !== undefined) {
-  //   if (apiKeyHeader === process.env.API_KEY) {
-  //     return { preferred_username: "api_key_bypass", apiKeyBypass: true };
-  //   }
-  // }
+  // API_KEY bypass logic (support api_key, x-api-key, apikey)
+  const apiKeyHeader =
+    request.headers["api-key"] || request.headers["x-api-key"] || request.headers["apikey"];
+  if (apiKeyHeader !== undefined) {
+    if (apiKeyHeader === process.env.API_KEY) {
+      return { preferred_username: "api_key_bypass", apiKeyBypass: true };
+    } else {
+      return undefined; 
+    }
+  }
   if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production" && process.env.AUTH_BYPASS) {
     return { preferred_username: "bypassed" };
   }