diff --git a/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/objectstorage/internal/Db.java b/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/objectstorage/internal/Db.java
index 3caaf91..24d0db2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/objectstorage/internal/Db.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/objectstorage/internal/Db.java
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.actions.tables.query.QueryInput;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.actions.tables.update.UpdateInput;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.data.QRecord;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.metadata.QInstance;
-import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.metadata.security.QSecurityKeyType;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.session.QSession;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.session.QSystemUserSession;
 
 
 /*******************************************************************************
@@ -131,30 +131,15 @@ public final class Db
 
 
    /*******************************************************************************
-    ** A session that holds every permission and every all-access security key of
-    ** the given instance (computed per instance, never cached across instances).
+    ** The core system-user session (every permission and every all-access
+    ** security key of the given instance, read per instance). It must be a
+    ** QSystemUserSession: token-based authentication modules (OAuth2, Auth0)
+    ** accept that class without a token and reject any other tokenless session,
+    ** which made every system read and write fail on such hosts.
     *******************************************************************************/
    private static QSession systemSession(QInstance instance)
    {
-      QSession session = new QSession()
-      {
-         /*******************************************************************************
-          ** The system user holds every permission.
-          *******************************************************************************/
-         @Override
-         public boolean hasPermission(String permissionName)
-         {
-            return (true);
-         }
-      };
-      for(QSecurityKeyType keyType : instance.getSecurityKeyTypes().values())
-      {
-         if(keyType.getAllAccessKeyName() != null)
-         {
-            session.withSecurityKeyValue(keyType.getAllAccessKeyName(), true);
-         }
-      }
-      return (session);
+      return (new QSystemUserSession(instance));
    }
 
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/objectstorage/internal/DbSystemSessionTest.java b/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/objectstorage/internal/DbSystemSessionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29af9c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qbits/objectstorage/internal/DbSystemSessionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/*
+ * QQQ - Low-code Application Framework for Engineers.
+ * Copyright (C) 2021-2025.  Kingsrook, LLC
+ * 651 N Broad St Ste 205 # 6917 | Middletown DE 19709 | United States
+ * contact@kingsrook.com
+ * https://github.com/Kingsrook/
+ *
+ * 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
+ *
+ *     https://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.
+ */
+
+package com.kingsrook.qbits.objectstorage.internal;
+
+
+import com.kingsrook.qbits.objectstorage.ObjectStorageQBitConfig;
+import com.kingsrook.qbits.objectstorage.testsupport.StorageTestSupport;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.context.QContext;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.metadata.security.QSecurityKeyType;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.session.QSession;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.session.QSystemUserSession;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+
+/*******************************************************************************
+ ** Db.asSystem runs work as the core system user. Token-based authentication
+ ** modules (OAuth2, Auth0) accept a QSystemUserSession without a token and
+ ** reject any other tokenless session, so the class matters, not just the
+ ** permissions.
+ *******************************************************************************/
+class DbSystemSessionTest
+{
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Reset the runtime and context after each test.
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   @AfterEach
+   void tearDown()
+   {
+      StorageTestSupport.tearDown();
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** The work sees a QSystemUserSession with every all-access key, and the
+    ** caller's session is restored afterwards.
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   @Test
+   void testAsSystemUsesCoreSystemUserSession() throws Exception
+   {
+      ObjectStorageQBitConfig config = new ObjectStorageQBitConfig().withBackendName(StorageTestSupport.MEMORY).withBucketScoping(false);
+      StorageTestSupport.setUp(config, instance -> instance.addSecurityKeyType(new QSecurityKeyType().withName("tenant").withAllAccessKeyName("tenantAllAccess")));
+      QSession caller = QContext.getQSession();
+
+      QSession inside = Db.asSystem(QContext::getQSession);
+
+      assertThat(inside).isInstanceOf(QSystemUserSession.class);
+      assertThat(inside.hasPermission("anything")).isTrue();
+      assertThat(inside.hasSecurityKeyValue("tenantAllAccess", true)).isTrue();
+      assertThat(QContext.getQSession()).isSameAs(caller);
+   }
+}