diff --git a/envconfig/config.go b/envconfig/config.go
index 74d4102d..bcc28bb6 100644
--- a/envconfig/config.go
+++ b/envconfig/config.go
@@ -57,24 +57,6 @@ func Host() *url.URL {
 	}
 }
 
-func BasicAuth() (basicAuth map[string]string) {
-	basicAuthString := Var("OLLAMA_BASIC_AUTH")
-	parts := strings.Split(basicAuthString, ":")
-
-	if len(parts) < 2 || parts[0] == "" || parts[1] == "" {
-		// Return a default value if the split result is not as expected
-		basicAuth = map[string]string{
-			"username": "password",
-		}
-	} else {
-		basicAuth = map[string]string{
-			parts[0]: parts[1],
-		}
-	}
-
-	return basicAuth
-}
-
 // Origins returns a list of allowed origins. Origins can be configured via the OLLAMA_ORIGINS environment variable.
 func Origins() (origins []string) {
 	if s := Var("OLLAMA_ORIGINS"); s != "" {
@@ -179,6 +161,8 @@ var (
 	RocrVisibleDevices    = String("ROCR_VISIBLE_DEVICES")
 	GpuDeviceOrdinal      = String("GPU_DEVICE_ORDINAL")
 	HsaOverrideGfxVersion = String("HSA_OVERRIDE_GFX_VERSION")
+
+	BasicAuthKey = String("OLLAMA_BASIC_AUTH_KEY")
 )
 
 func RunnersDir() (p string) {
@@ -276,7 +260,7 @@ func AsMap() map[string]EnvVar {
 		"OLLAMA_RUNNERS_DIR":       {"OLLAMA_RUNNERS_DIR", RunnersDir(), "Location for runners"},
 		"OLLAMA_SCHED_SPREAD":      {"OLLAMA_SCHED_SPREAD", SchedSpread(), "Always schedule model across all GPUs"},
 		"OLLAMA_TMPDIR":            {"OLLAMA_TMPDIR", TmpDir(), "Location for temporary files"},
-		"OLLAMA_BASIC_AUTH":        {"OLLAMA_BASIC_AUTH", BasicAuth(), "Basic auth (default username:password, will allow all request if empty)"},
+		"OLLAMA_BASIC_AUTH_KEY":    {"OLLAMA_BASIC_AUTH_KEY", BasicAuthKey(), "Basic auth key for user ollama, will allow all request if empty"},
 	}
 	if runtime.GOOS != "darwin" {
 		ret["CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES"] = EnvVar{"CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES", CudaVisibleDevices(), "Set which NVIDIA devices are visible"}
diff --git a/envconfig/config_test.go b/envconfig/config_test.go
index 2a610e78..92a500f1 100644
--- a/envconfig/config_test.go
+++ b/envconfig/config_test.go
@@ -233,29 +233,3 @@ func TestVar(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
-
-func TestBasicAuth(t *testing.T) {
-	cases := map[string]struct {
-		value          string
-		expectUser     string
-		expectPassword string
-	}{
-		"empty":           {"", "username", "password"},
-		"valid":           {"user1:password1", "user1", "password1"},
-		"missingPassword": {"user2:", "username", "password"},
-		"missingUser":     {":password2", "username", "password"},
-		"noColon":         {"user3password3", "username", "password"},
-	}
-
-	for name, tt := range cases {
-		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			t.Setenv("OLLAMA_BASIC_AUTH", tt.value)
-			basicAuth := BasicAuth()
-
-			password, exists := basicAuth[tt.expectUser]
-			if !exists || password != tt.expectPassword {
-				t.Errorf("%s: expected map[%s:%s], got %v", name, tt.expectUser, tt.expectPassword, basicAuth)
-			}
-		})
-	}
-}
diff --git a/server/routes.go b/server/routes.go
index 9fe5c30b..ec5f7202 100644
--- a/server/routes.go
+++ b/server/routes.go
@@ -1064,12 +1064,13 @@ func (s *Server) GenerateRoutes() http.Handler {
 		allowedHostsMiddleware(s.addr),
 	)
 
-	auth := envconfig.BasicAuth()
-	// Check if the auth map contains the default credentials
-	isDefaultAuth := len(auth) == 1 && auth["username"] == "password"
-
-	if !isDefaultAuth {
-		r.Use(gin.BasicAuth(auth))
+	ollamaAuthKey := envconfig.BasicAuthKey()
+	if ollamaAuthKey != "" {
+		r.Use(
+			gin.BasicAuth(gin.Accounts{
+				"ollama": ollamaAuthKey,
+			}),
+		)
 	}
 
 	r.POST("/api/pull", s.PullModelHandler)
diff --git a/server/routes_test.go b/server/routes_test.go
index e33002a5..87c6fd5d 100644
--- a/server/routes_test.go
+++ b/server/routes_test.go
@@ -345,28 +345,43 @@ func Test_Routes(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			Name:   "Authenticated Route Success",
 			Method: http.MethodGet,
-			Path:   "/api/protected", // replace with your protected route
+			Path:   "/api/version",
 			Setup: func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request) {
-				req.SetBasicAuth("username", "password")
+				t.Setenv("OLLAMA_BASIC_AUTH_KEY", "password")
+				req.SetBasicAuth("ollama", "password")
 			},
 			Expected: func(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response) {
-				assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, resp.StatusCode) // replace with your expected status code
+				assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, resp.StatusCode)
 				_, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 				require.NoError(t, err)
-				// Add more assertions based on the expected response body
 			},
 		},
 		{
 			Name:   "Authenticated Route Failure",
 			Method: http.MethodGet,
-			Path:   "/api/protected", // replace with your protected route
+			Path:   "/api/version",
 			Setup: func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request) {
-				req.SetBasicAuth("wronguser", "wrongpass")
+				t.Setenv("OLLAMA_BASIC_AUTH_KEY", "password")
+				req.SetBasicAuth("ollama", "wrongpassword")
 			},
 			Expected: func(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response) {
 				assert.Equal(t, http.StatusUnauthorized, resp.StatusCode)
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			Name:   "BasicAuthKey not set",
+			Method: http.MethodGet,
+			Path:   "/api/version",
+			Setup: func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request) {
+				t.Setenv("OLLAMA_BASIC_AUTH_KEY", "")
+				req.SetBasicAuth("ollama", "wrongpassword")
+			},
+			Expected: func(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response) {
+				assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, resp.StatusCode)
+				_, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	t.Setenv("OLLAMA_MODELS", t.TempDir())