diff --git a/routstr/payment/helpers.py b/routstr/payment/helpers.py
index 4aea50c8..e0e9f337 100644
--- a/routstr/payment/helpers.py
+++ b/routstr/payment/helpers.py
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ def check_token_balance(headers: dict, body: dict, max_cost_for_model: int) -> N
             },
         )
     elif auth := headers.get("authorization", None):
-        cashu_token = auth.split(" ")[1] if len(auth.split(" ")) > 1 else ""
+        parts = auth.split()
+        cashu_token = parts[1] if len(parts) > 1 else ""
         logger.debug(
             "Using Authorization header token",
             extra={
diff --git a/routstr/proxy.py b/routstr/proxy.py
index 7f72ff75..4d8f666d 100644
--- a/routstr/proxy.py
+++ b/routstr/proxy.py
@@ -390,7 +390,8 @@ async def get_bearer_token_key(
     headers: dict, path: str, session: AsyncSession, auth: str, min_cost: int = 0
 ) -> ApiKey:
     """Handle bearer token authentication proxy requests."""
-    bearer_key = auth.replace("Bearer ", "") if auth.startswith("Bearer ") else ""
+    parts = auth.split()
+    bearer_key = parts[1] if len(parts) > 1 and parts[0].lower() == "bearer" else ""
     refund_address = headers.get("Refund-LNURL", None)
     key_expiry_time = headers.get("Key-Expiry-Time", None)