diff --git a/packages/backend-common/package.json b/packages/backend-common/package.json
index 94f1b39672..444a0a273b 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/package.json
+++ b/packages/backend-common/package.json
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
     "@backstage/config-loader": "^0.8.0",
     "@backstage/errors": "^0.1.4",
     "@backstage/integration": "^0.6.9",
-    "@backstage/plugin-auth-backend": "^0.4.5",
     "@backstage/types": "^0.1.1",
     "@google-cloud/storage": "^5.8.0",
     "@lerna/project": "^4.0.0",
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/identity/index.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/identity/index.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 67692e0ed5..0000000000
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/identity/index.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2021 The Backstage Authors
- *
- * 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.
- */
-
-export { IdentityClient } from './IdentityClient';
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/index.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/index.ts
index a3c53e6f9f..e430ddc1a4 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/index.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ export { loadBackendConfig } from './config';
 export * from './database';
 export * from './discovery';
 export * from './hot';
-export * from './identity';
 export * from './logging';
 export * from './middleware';
 export * from './paths';
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/identity/IdentityClient.test.ts b/plugins/auth-backend/src/identity/IdentityClient.test.ts
similarity index 97%
rename from packages/backend-common/src/identity/IdentityClient.test.ts
rename to plugins/auth-backend/src/identity/IdentityClient.test.ts
index 36d737174d..5eca6bf8cd 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/identity/IdentityClient.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/auth-backend/src/identity/IdentityClient.test.ts
@@ -17,14 +17,14 @@
 import { JWT, JSONWebKey } from 'jose';
 import { rest } from 'msw';
 import { setupServer } from 'msw/node';
-import { getVoidLogger } from '../logging';
-import { PluginEndpointDiscovery } from '../discovery';
-import { IdentityClient } from './IdentityClient';
 import {
-  KeyStore,
-  MemoryKeyStore,
-  TokenFactory,
-} from '@backstage/plugin-auth-backend';
+  getVoidLogger,
+  PluginEndpointDiscovery,
+} from '@backstage/backend-common';
+import { IdentityClient } from './IdentityClient';
+import { MemoryKeyStore } from './MemoryKeyStore';
+import { TokenFactory } from './TokenFactory';
+import { KeyStore } from './types';
 
 const logger = getVoidLogger();
 
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/identity/IdentityClient.ts b/plugins/auth-backend/src/identity/IdentityClient.ts
similarity index 97%
rename from packages/backend-common/src/identity/IdentityClient.ts
rename to plugins/auth-backend/src/identity/IdentityClient.ts
index 2921b5705c..2af30e4b6a 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/identity/IdentityClient.ts
+++ b/plugins/auth-backend/src/identity/IdentityClient.ts
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@
 
 import fetch from 'cross-fetch';
 import { JWK, JWT, JWKS, JSONWebKey } from 'jose';
-import { BackstageIdentity } from '@backstage/plugin-auth-backend';
-import { PluginEndpointDiscovery } from '../discovery';
+import { BackstageIdentity } from '../providers';
+import { PluginEndpointDiscovery } from '@backstage/backend-common';
 
 const CLOCK_MARGIN_S = 10;
 
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ const CLOCK_MARGIN_S = 10;
  *
  * @experimental This is not a stable API yet
  */
-
 export class IdentityClient {
   private readonly discovery: PluginEndpointDiscovery;
   private readonly issuer: string;
diff --git a/plugins/auth-backend/src/identity/index.ts b/plugins/auth-backend/src/identity/index.ts
index cb2f369668..73858d7e07 100644
--- a/plugins/auth-backend/src/identity/index.ts
+++ b/plugins/auth-backend/src/identity/index.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
  */
 
 export { createOidcRouter } from './router';
+export { IdentityClient } from './IdentityClient';
 export { TokenFactory } from './TokenFactory';
 export { DatabaseKeyStore } from './DatabaseKeyStore';
 export { MemoryKeyStore } from './MemoryKeyStore';
diff --git a/plugins/auth-backend/src/index.ts b/plugins/auth-backend/src/index.ts
index e348da116d..432da00142 100644
--- a/plugins/auth-backend/src/index.ts
+++ b/plugins/auth-backend/src/index.ts
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@
  */
 
 export * from './service/router';
-export { MemoryKeyStore, TokenFactory } from './identity';
-export type { KeyStore, TokenIssuer } from './identity';
+export { IdentityClient } from './identity';
+export type { TokenIssuer } from './identity';
 export * from './providers';
 
 // flow package provides 2 functions