diff --git a/plugins/auth-node/api-report.md b/plugins/auth-node/api-report.md
index 902a3ad0b0..0f1c5bb934 100644
--- a/plugins/auth-node/api-report.md
+++ b/plugins/auth-node/api-report.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 ```ts
 import { PluginEndpointDiscovery } from '@backstage/backend-common';
+import { Request as Request_2 } from 'express';
 
 // @public
 export interface BackstageIdentityResponse extends BackstageSignInResult {
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@ export class DefaultIdentityClient implements IdentityApi {
   authenticate(token: string | undefined): Promise<BackstageIdentityResponse>;
   static create(options: IdentityClientOptions): DefaultIdentityClient;
   // (undocumented)
-  getIdentity(req: Request): Promise<BackstageIdentityResponse | undefined>;
+  getIdentity(req: Request_2): Promise<BackstageIdentityResponse | undefined>;
 }
 
 // @public
@@ -38,7 +39,9 @@ export function getBearerTokenFromAuthorizationHeader(
 
 // @public
 export interface IdentityApi {
-  getIdentity(req: Request): Promise<BackstageIdentityResponse | undefined>;
+  getIdentity(
+    req: Request_2<any>,
+  ): Promise<BackstageIdentityResponse | undefined>;
 }
 
 // @public @deprecated
diff --git a/plugins/auth-node/package.json b/plugins/auth-node/package.json
index 294bc08889..2ac9a17813 100644
--- a/plugins/auth-node/package.json
+++ b/plugins/auth-node/package.json
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
     "@backstage/backend-common": "^0.15.0-next.0",
     "@backstage/config": "^1.0.1",
     "@backstage/errors": "^1.1.0",
+    "express": "^4.17.13",
     "jose": "^4.6.0",
     "node-fetch": "^2.6.7",
     "winston": "^3.2.1"
diff --git a/plugins/auth-node/src/DefaultIdentityClient.ts b/plugins/auth-node/src/DefaultIdentityClient.ts
index 6d1394bd55..8c09157c5c 100644
--- a/plugins/auth-node/src/DefaultIdentityClient.ts
+++ b/plugins/auth-node/src/DefaultIdentityClient.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import {
   jwtVerify,
 } from 'jose';
 import { GetKeyFunction } from 'jose/dist/types/types';
+import { Request } from 'express';
 
 import { BackstageIdentityResponse } from './types';
 import { getBearerTokenFromAuthorizationHeader, IdentityApi } from '.';
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ export class DefaultIdentityClient implements IdentityApi {
   async getIdentity(req: Request) {
     try {
       return await this.authenticate(
-        getBearerTokenFromAuthorizationHeader(req.headers.get('authorization')),
+        getBearerTokenFromAuthorizationHeader(req.headers.authorization),
       );
     } catch (e) {
       return undefined;
diff --git a/plugins/auth-node/src/IdentityApi.ts b/plugins/auth-node/src/IdentityApi.ts
index 7aec553101..32a1040d18 100644
--- a/plugins/auth-node/src/IdentityApi.ts
+++ b/plugins/auth-node/src/IdentityApi.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 import { BackstageIdentityResponse } from './types';
+import { Request } from 'express';
 
 /**
  * An identity client api to authenticate Backstage
@@ -28,5 +29,7 @@ export interface IdentityApi {
    * Returns a BackstageIdentity (user) matching the token.
    * The method throws an error if verification fails.
    */
-  getIdentity(req: Request): Promise<BackstageIdentityResponse | undefined>;
+  getIdentity(
+    req: Request<any>,
+  ): Promise<BackstageIdentityResponse | undefined>;
 }