diff --git a/pkg/server/api_v2_auth.go b/pkg/server/api_v2_auth.go
index 27d1d7940031..8badd88ff275 100644
--- a/pkg/server/api_v2_auth.go
+++ b/pkg/server/api_v2_auth.go
@@ -277,32 +277,67 @@ func newAuthenticationV2Mux(s *authenticationV2Server, inner http.Handler) *auth
 	}
 }
 
-// getSession decodes the cookie from the request, looks up the corresponding session, and
-// returns the logged in user name. If there's an error, it returns an error value and
-// also sends the error over http using w.
+// apiV2UseCookieBasedAuth is a magic value of the auth header that
+// tells us to look for the session in the cookie. This can be used by
+// frontend code to maintain cookie-based auth while interacting with
+// the API.
+const apiV2UseCookieBasedAuth = "cookie"
+
+// getSession decodes the cookie from the request, looks up the corresponding
+// session, and returns the logged-in username. The session can be looked up
+// either from a session cookie as used in the non-v2 API server, or via the
+// session header. In order for us to use the cookie as the session source, the
+// header `"X-Cockroach-API-Session"` must be set to `"cookie"` (This is to
+// guard against CSRF attacks in the browser since it forces the caller to use
+// javascript to set the header). If there's an error, it returns an error value
+// and also sends the error over http using w.
 func (a *authenticationV2Mux) getSession(
 	w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request,
 ) (string, *serverpb.SessionCookie, error) {
-	// Validate the returned cookie.
+	ctx := req.Context()
+	// Validate the returned session header or cookie.
 	rawSession := req.Header.Get(apiV2AuthHeader)
 	if len(rawSession) == 0 {
 		err := errors.New("invalid session header")
 		http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusUnauthorized)
 		return "", nil, err
 	}
+
+	possibleSessions := []string{}
+	if rawSession == apiV2UseCookieBasedAuth {
+		cookies := req.Cookies()
+		for _, c := range cookies {
+			if c.Name != SessionCookieName {
+				continue
+			}
+			possibleSessions = append(possibleSessions, c.Value)
+		}
+	} else {
+		possibleSessions = append(possibleSessions, rawSession)
+	}
+
 	sessionCookie := &serverpb.SessionCookie{}
-	decoded, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(rawSession)
-	if err != nil {
-		err := errors.New("invalid session header")
-		http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest)
-		return "", nil, err
+	var decoded []byte
+	var err error
+	for i := range possibleSessions {
+		decoded, err = base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(possibleSessions[i])
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Warningf(ctx, "attempted to decode session but failed: %v", err)
+			continue
+		}
+		err = protoutil.Unmarshal(decoded, sessionCookie)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Warningf(ctx, "attempted to unmarshal session but failed: %v", err)
+			continue
+		}
+		// We've successfully decoded a session from cookie or header.
+		break
 	}
-	if err := protoutil.Unmarshal(decoded, sessionCookie); err != nil {
+	if err != nil {
 		err := errors.New("invalid session header")
 		http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest)
 		return "", nil, err
 	}
-
 	valid, username, err := a.s.authServer.verifySession(req.Context(), sessionCookie)
 	if err != nil {
 		apiV2InternalError(req.Context(), err, w)
diff --git a/pkg/server/api_v2_test.go b/pkg/server/api_v2_test.go
index 19d954615fb7..36b39daf588d 100644
--- a/pkg/server/api_v2_test.go
+++ b/pkg/server/api_v2_test.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ package server
 import (
 	"context"
 	gosql "database/sql"
+	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/leaktest"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/log"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/metric"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/protoutil"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
 )
@@ -183,3 +185,82 @@ func TestRulesV2(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, yaml.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&ruleGroups))
 	require.NoError(t, resp.Body.Close())
 }
+
+func TestAuthV2(t *testing.T) {
+	defer leaktest.AfterTest(t)()
+	defer log.Scope(t).Close(t)
+
+	testCluster := serverutils.StartNewTestCluster(t, 3, base.TestClusterArgs{})
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	defer testCluster.Stopper().Stop(ctx)
+
+	ts := testCluster.Server(0)
+	client, err := ts.GetHTTPClient()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	session, err := ts.GetAuthSession(true)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	sessionBytes, err := protoutil.Marshal(session)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	sessionEncoded := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(sessionBytes)
+
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name           string
+		header         string
+		cookie         string
+		expectedStatus int
+	}{
+		{
+			name:           "no auth",
+			expectedStatus: http.StatusUnauthorized,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "session in header",
+			header:         sessionEncoded,
+			expectedStatus: http.StatusOK,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "cookie auth with correct magic header",
+			cookie:         sessionEncoded,
+			header:         apiV2UseCookieBasedAuth,
+			expectedStatus: http.StatusOK,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "cookie auth but missing header",
+			cookie:         sessionEncoded,
+			expectedStatus: http.StatusUnauthorized,
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "cookie auth but wrong magic header",
+			cookie: sessionEncoded,
+			header: "yes",
+			// Bad Request and not Unauthorized because the session cannot be decoded.
+			expectedStatus: http.StatusBadRequest,
+		},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", ts.AdminURL()+apiV2Path+"sessions/", nil)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			if tc.header != "" {
+				req.Header.Set(apiV2AuthHeader, tc.header)
+			}
+			if tc.cookie != "" {
+				req.AddCookie(&http.Cookie{
+					Name:  SessionCookieName,
+					Value: tc.cookie,
+				})
+			}
+			resp, err := client.Do(req)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.NotNil(t, resp)
+			defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+			if tc.expectedStatus != resp.StatusCode {
+				body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+				t.Fatalf("expected status: %d but got: %d with body: %s", tc.expectedStatus, resp.StatusCode, string(body))
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/pkg/server/testserver_http.go b/pkg/server/testserver_http.go
index b1e0488e18f5..20c463b667cb 100644
--- a/pkg/server/testserver_http.go
+++ b/pkg/server/testserver_http.go
@@ -71,6 +71,16 @@ func (ts *httpTestServer) GetAuthenticatedHTTPClient(isAdmin bool) (http.Client,
 	return httpClient, err
 }
 
+// GetAuthenticatedHTTPClient implements the TestServerInterface.
+func (ts *httpTestServer) GetAuthSession(isAdmin bool) (*serverpb.SessionCookie, error) {
+	authUser := authenticatedUserName()
+	if !isAdmin {
+		authUser = authenticatedUserNameNoAdmin()
+	}
+	_, cookie, err := ts.getAuthenticatedHTTPClientAndCookie(authUser, isAdmin)
+	return cookie, err
+}
+
 func (ts *httpTestServer) getAuthenticatedHTTPClientAndCookie(
 	authUser security.SQLUsername, isAdmin bool,
 ) (http.Client, *serverpb.SessionCookie, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/testutils/serverutils/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/testutils/serverutils/BUILD.bazel
index f8492f82c684..31c1f165f5d5 100644
--- a/pkg/testutils/serverutils/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/testutils/serverutils/BUILD.bazel
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/roachpb",
         "//pkg/rpc",
         "//pkg/security",
+        "//pkg/server/serverpb",
         "//pkg/server/status",
         "//pkg/settings/cluster",
         "//pkg/storage",
diff --git a/pkg/testutils/serverutils/test_tenant_shim.go b/pkg/testutils/serverutils/test_tenant_shim.go
index 1224a6b323f8..169cfe2bd91c 100644
--- a/pkg/testutils/serverutils/test_tenant_shim.go
+++ b/pkg/testutils/serverutils/test_tenant_shim.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/base"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/config"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/rpc"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/server/serverpb"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/settings/cluster"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/hlc"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/log"
@@ -127,6 +128,9 @@ type TestTenantInterface interface {
 	// GetAuthenticatedHTTPClient returns an http client which has been
 	// authenticated to access Admin API methods (via a cookie).
 	GetAuthenticatedHTTPClient(isAdmin bool) (http.Client, error)
+	// GetEncodedSession returns a byte array containing a valid auth
+	// session.
+	GetAuthSession(isAdmin bool) (*serverpb.SessionCookie, error)
 
 	// DrainClients shuts down client connections.
 	DrainClients(ctx context.Context) error