diff --git a/src/_nebari/constants.py b/src/_nebari/constants.py
index 26b91fd7f..a775774e0 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/constants.py
+++ b/src/_nebari/constants.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 DEFAULT_NEBARI_IMAGE_TAG = CURRENT_RELEASE
 DEFAULT_NEBARI_WORKFLOW_CONTROLLER_IMAGE_TAG = "2023.7.2"
 
-DEFAULT_CONDA_STORE_IMAGE_TAG = "v0.4.14"
+DEFAULT_CONDA_STORE_IMAGE_TAG = "2023.10.1"
 
 LATEST_SUPPORTED_PYTHON_VERSION = "3.10"
 
diff --git a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_services/template/modules/kubernetes/services/conda-store/config/conda_store_config.py b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_services/template/modules/kubernetes/services/conda-store/config/conda_store_config.py
index 6f9e1089d..6ed6232ba 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_services/template/modules/kubernetes/services/conda-store/config/conda_store_config.py
+++ b/src/_nebari/stages/kubernetes_services/template/modules/kubernetes/services/conda-store/config/conda_store_config.py
@@ -132,12 +132,13 @@ async def authenticate(self, request):
             namespaces.add(group_name)
             role_bindings[f"{group_name}/*"] = roles
 
-        conda_store = get_conda_store(request)
-        for namespace in namespaces:
-            _namespace = api.get_namespace(conda_store.db, name=namespace)
-            if _namespace is None:
-                conda_store.db.add(orm.Namespace(name=namespace))
-                conda_store.db.commit()
+        conda_store = await get_conda_store(request)
+        with conda_store.session_factory() as db:
+            for namespace in namespaces:
+                _namespace = api.get_namespace(db, name=namespace)
+                if _namespace is None:
+                    db.add(orm.Namespace(name=namespace))
+                    db.commit()
 
         return schema.AuthenticationToken(
             primary_namespace=username,