diff --git a/persistence-cassandra-3.11/src/main/java/io/stargate/db/cassandra/CassandraPersistenceActivator.java b/persistence-cassandra-3.11/src/main/java/io/stargate/db/cassandra/CassandraPersistenceActivator.java
index 541d9b9bfc..d4a1639b92 100644
--- a/persistence-cassandra-3.11/src/main/java/io/stargate/db/cassandra/CassandraPersistenceActivator.java
+++ b/persistence-cassandra-3.11/src/main/java/io/stargate/db/cassandra/CassandraPersistenceActivator.java
@@ -119,7 +119,9 @@ public static Config makeConfig(File baseDir) throws IOException {
     String enableAuth = System.getProperty("stargate.enable_auth", "false");
 
     if (enableAuth.equalsIgnoreCase("true")) {
-      c.authenticator = PasswordAuthenticator.class.getCanonicalName();
+      c.authenticator =
+          System.getProperty(
+              "stargate.authenticator_class_name", PasswordAuthenticator.class.getCanonicalName());
       c.authorizer = DelegatingAuthorizer.class.getCanonicalName();
     }
 
diff --git a/persistence-cassandra-4.0/src/main/java/io/stargate/db/cassandra/CassandraPersistenceActivator.java b/persistence-cassandra-4.0/src/main/java/io/stargate/db/cassandra/CassandraPersistenceActivator.java
index 4ef20d01db..1cc50e5948 100644
--- a/persistence-cassandra-4.0/src/main/java/io/stargate/db/cassandra/CassandraPersistenceActivator.java
+++ b/persistence-cassandra-4.0/src/main/java/io/stargate/db/cassandra/CassandraPersistenceActivator.java
@@ -104,7 +104,9 @@ public static Config makeConfig(File baseDir) throws IOException {
     String enableAuth = System.getProperty("stargate.enable_auth", "false");
 
     if (enableAuth.equalsIgnoreCase("true")) {
-      c.authenticator = PasswordAuthenticator.class.getCanonicalName();
+      c.authenticator =
+          System.getProperty(
+              "stargate.authenticator_class_name", PasswordAuthenticator.class.getCanonicalName());
       c.authorizer = DelegatingAuthorizer.class.getCanonicalName();
     }
 
diff --git a/persistence-dse-6.8/src/main/java/io/stargate/db/dse/DsePersistenceActivator.java b/persistence-dse-6.8/src/main/java/io/stargate/db/dse/DsePersistenceActivator.java
index a6b339dfbd..9f5098c8d3 100644
--- a/persistence-dse-6.8/src/main/java/io/stargate/db/dse/DsePersistenceActivator.java
+++ b/persistence-dse-6.8/src/main/java/io/stargate/db/dse/DsePersistenceActivator.java
@@ -108,7 +108,9 @@ public static Config makeConfig(File baseDir) throws IOException {
 
     if (enableAuth.equalsIgnoreCase("true")) {
       // TODO: Use DseAuthenticator and DseAuthorizer. We need to configure them properly
-      c.authenticator = PasswordAuthenticator.class.getCanonicalName();
+      c.authenticator =
+          System.getProperty(
+              "stargate.authenticator_class_name", PasswordAuthenticator.class.getCanonicalName());
       c.authorizer = DelegatingAuthorizer.class.getName();
     }