diff --git a/app-config.yaml b/app-config.yaml
index 48d58dc837..309fa28234 100644
--- a/app-config.yaml
+++ b/app-config.yaml
@@ -151,9 +151,9 @@ integrations:
       token:
         $env: AZURE_TOKEN
 #  googleGcs:
-#    clientEmail:
-#      $env: GCS_CLIENT_EMAIL
-#    privateKey: 'example@example.com'
+#    clientEmail: 'example@example.com'
+#    privateKey:
+#      $env: GCS_PRIVATE_KEY
 
 catalog:
   rules:
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GoogleGcsUrlReader.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GoogleGcsUrlReader.ts
index a05a41e54a..4ea24fa22f 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GoogleGcsUrlReader.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GoogleGcsUrlReader.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,10 @@ import {
   UrlReader,
 } from './types';
 import getRawBody from 'raw-body';
-import { readGoogleGcsIntegrationConfig } from '@backstage/integration';
+import {
+  GoogleGcsIntegrationConfig,
+  readGoogleGcsIntegrationConfig,
+} from '@backstage/integration';
 
 const GOOGLE_GCS_HOST = 'storage.cloud.google.com';
 
@@ -53,7 +56,7 @@ export class GoogleGcsUrlReader implements UrlReader {
     );
     let storage: Storage;
     if (!gcsConfig.clientEmail || !gcsConfig.privateKey) {
-      logger.warn(
+      logger.info(
         'googleGcs credentials not found in config. Using default credentials provider.',
       );
       storage = new Storage();
@@ -65,12 +68,15 @@ export class GoogleGcsUrlReader implements UrlReader {
         },
       });
     }
-    const reader = new GoogleGcsUrlReader(storage);
+    const reader = new GoogleGcsUrlReader(gcsConfig, storage);
     const predicate = (url: URL) => url.host === GOOGLE_GCS_HOST;
     return [{ reader, predicate }];
   };
 
-  constructor(private readonly storage: Storage) {}
+  constructor(
+    private readonly integration: GoogleGcsIntegrationConfig,
+    private readonly storage: Storage,
+  ) {}
 
   async read(url: string): Promise<Buffer> {
     try {
@@ -93,6 +99,7 @@ export class GoogleGcsUrlReader implements UrlReader {
   }
 
   toString() {
-    return `gcs{host=${GOOGLE_GCS_HOST},authed=true}}`;
+    const key = this.integration.privateKey;
+    return `googleGcs{host=${GOOGLE_GCS_HOST},authed=${Boolean(key)}}`;
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/integration/src/googleGcs/config.ts b/packages/integration/src/googleGcs/config.ts
index 90a679bb4c..7924138b5a 100644
--- a/packages/integration/src/googleGcs/config.ts
+++ b/packages/integration/src/googleGcs/config.ts
@@ -42,15 +42,12 @@ export function readGoogleGcsIntegrationConfig(
     return {};
   }
 
-  if (!config.has('clientEmail') || !config.has('privateKey')) {
+  if (!config.has('clientEmail') && !config.has('privateKey')) {
     return {};
   }
 
-  const privateKey = config
-    .getOptionalString('privateKey')
-    ?.split('\\n')
-    .join('\n');
+  const privateKey = config.getString('privateKey').split('\\n').join('\n');
 
-  const clientEmail = config.getOptionalString('clientEmail');
+  const clientEmail = config.getString('clientEmail');
   return { clientEmail: clientEmail, privateKey: privateKey };
 }