diff --git a/plugins/auth-backend/src/run.ts b/plugins/auth-backend/src/run.ts
index a2c2601258..679f8ded2e 100644
--- a/plugins/auth-backend/src/run.ts
+++ b/plugins/auth-backend/src/run.ts
@@ -14,15 +14,12 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import yn from 'yn';
 import { getRootLogger } from '@backstage/backend-common';
 import { startStandaloneServer } from './service/standaloneServer';
 
-const port = process.env.PLUGIN_PORT ? Number(process.env.PLUGIN_PORT) : 3003;
-const enableCors = yn(process.env.PLUGIN_CORS, { default: false });
 const logger = getRootLogger();
 
-startStandaloneServer({ port, enableCors, logger }).catch(err => {
+startStandaloneServer({ logger }).catch(err => {
   logger.error(err);
   process.exit(1);
 });
@@ -31,3 +28,5 @@ process.on('SIGINT', () => {
   logger.info('CTRL+C pressed; exiting.');
   process.exit(0);
 });
+
+module.hot?.accept();
diff --git a/plugins/auth-backend/src/service/standaloneApplication.ts b/plugins/auth-backend/src/service/standaloneApplication.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index cd81e32ccb..0000000000
--- a/plugins/auth-backend/src/service/standaloneApplication.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2020 Spotify AB
- *
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-
-import {
-  errorHandler,
-  notFoundHandler,
-  requestLoggingHandler,
-} from '@backstage/backend-common';
-import { Config } from '@backstage/config';
-import compression from 'compression';
-import cors from 'cors';
-import express from 'express';
-import helmet from 'helmet';
-import { Logger } from 'winston';
-import { createRouter } from './router';
-
-export interface ApplicationOptions {
-  enableCors: boolean;
-  logger: Logger;
-  config: Config;
-}
-
-export async function createStandaloneApplication(
-  options: ApplicationOptions,
-): Promise<express.Application> {
-  const { enableCors, logger, config } = options;
-  const app = express();
-
-  app.use(helmet());
-  if (enableCors) {
-    app.use(cors());
-  }
-  app.use(compression());
-  app.use(express.json());
-  app.use(requestLoggingHandler());
-  app.use('/', await createRouter({ logger, config }));
-  app.use(notFoundHandler());
-  app.use(errorHandler());
-
-  return app;
-}
diff --git a/plugins/auth-backend/src/service/standaloneServer.ts b/plugins/auth-backend/src/service/standaloneServer.ts
index c03fe44b40..d2372a7e91 100644
--- a/plugins/auth-backend/src/service/standaloneServer.ts
+++ b/plugins/auth-backend/src/service/standaloneServer.ts
@@ -14,15 +14,15 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+import Knex from 'knex';
 import { Server } from 'http';
 import { Logger } from 'winston';
-import { createStandaloneApplication } from './standaloneApplication';
 import { ConfigReader } from '@backstage/config';
 import { loadConfig } from '@backstage/config-loader';
+import { createRouter } from './router';
+import { createServiceBuilder, useHotMemoize } from '@backstage/backend-common';
 
 export interface ServerOptions {
-  port: number;
-  enableCors: boolean;
   logger: Logger;
 }
 
@@ -32,23 +32,31 @@ export async function startStandaloneServer(
   const logger = options.logger.child({ service: 'auth-backend' });
   const config = ConfigReader.fromConfigs(await loadConfig());
 
-  logger.debug('Creating application...');
-  const app = await createStandaloneApplication({
-    enableCors: options.enableCors,
-    logger,
-    config,
+  const database = useHotMemoize(module, () => {
+    const knex = Knex({
+      client: 'sqlite3',
+      connection: ':memory:',
+      useNullAsDefault: true,
+    });
+    knex.client.pool.on('createSuccess', (_eventId: any, resource: any) => {
+      resource.run('PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON', () => {});
+    });
+    return knex;
   });
 
   logger.debug('Starting application server...');
-  return await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-    const server = app.listen(options.port, (err?: Error) => {
-      if (err) {
-        reject(err);
-        return;
-      }
+  const router = await createRouter({
+    logger,
+    config,
+    database,
+  });
 
-      logger.info(`Listening on port ${options.port}`);
-      resolve(server);
-    });
+  const service = createServiceBuilder(module)
+    .enableCors({ origin: 'http://localhost:3000', credentials: true })
+    .addRouter('/auth', router);
+
+  return await service.start().catch(err => {
+    logger.error(err);
+    process.exit(1);
   });
 }