diff --git a/lib/auth/sso.js b/lib/auth/sso.js
index 56cff3c06e292..499ad9cb7ecb2 100644
--- a/lib/auth/sso.js
+++ b/lib/auth/sso.js
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ const otplease = require('../utils/otplease.js')
 const pollForSession = ({ registry, token, opts }) => {
   log.info('adduser', 'Polling for validated SSO session')
   return npmFetch.json(
-    '/-/whoami', { ...opts, registry, forceAuth: { token } }
+    '/-/whoami', { ...opts, registry, forceAuth: { _authToken: token } }
   ).then(
     ({ username }) => username,
     err => {