diff --git a/app/.env.local.example b/app/.env.local.example
index f45c3fcc83..513dfe1935 100644
--- a/app/.env.local.example
+++ b/app/.env.local.example
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ NEXTAUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000
 # https://generate-secret.vercel.app/32 to generate a secret.
 # Note: Changing a secret may invalidate existing sessions
 # and/or verification tokens.
-SECRET=secret
+NEXTAUTH_SECRET=secret
 
 AUTH0_ID=
 AUTH0_SECRET=
diff --git a/app/pages/api/auth/[...nextauth].ts b/app/pages/api/auth/[...nextauth].ts
index 6c97c06b9c..1220c27fee 100644
--- a/app/pages/api/auth/[...nextauth].ts
+++ b/app/pages/api/auth/[...nextauth].ts
@@ -189,9 +189,8 @@ export const authOptions: NextAuthOptions = {
     PatreonProvider({
       clientId: process.env.PATREON_ID,
       clientSecret: process.env.PATREON_SECRET,
-    })
+    }),
   ],
-  secret: process.env.SECRET,
   debug: true,
   theme: {
     colorScheme: "auto",
diff --git a/src/core/types.ts b/src/core/types.ts
index 5f4589d05f..67c4e8a862 100644
--- a/src/core/types.ts
+++ b/src/core/types.ts
@@ -27,9 +27,10 @@ export interface NextAuthOptions {
   providers: Provider[]
   /**
    * A random string used to hash tokens, sign cookies and generate cryptographic keys.
-   * If not specified is uses a hash of all configuration options, including Client ID / Secrets for entropy.
-   * The default behavior is volatile, and **it is strongly recommended** you explicitly specify a value
-   * to avoid invalidating end user sessions when configuration changes are deployed.
+   * If not specified, it falls back to `jwt.secret` or `NEXTAUTH_SECRET` from environment vairables.
+   * Otherwise it will use a hash of all configuration options, including Client ID / Secrets for entropy.
+   *
+   * NOTE: The last behavior is extrmely volatile, and will throw an error in production.
    * * **Default value**: `string` (SHA hash of the "options" object)
    * * **Required**: No - **but strongly recommended**!
    *
diff --git a/src/jwt/index.ts b/src/jwt/index.ts
index f479517936..59f855337a 100644
--- a/src/jwt/index.ts
+++ b/src/jwt/index.ts
@@ -13,11 +13,8 @@ const DEFAULT_MAX_AGE = 30 * 24 * 60 * 60 // 30 days
 const now = () => (Date.now() / 1000) | 0
 
 /** Issues a JWT. By default, the JWT is encrypted using "A256GCM". */
-export async function encode({
-  token = {},
-  secret,
-  maxAge = DEFAULT_MAX_AGE,
-}: JWTEncodeParams) {
+export async function encode(params: JWTEncodeParams) {
+  const { token = {}, secret, maxAge = DEFAULT_MAX_AGE } = params
   const encryptionSecret = await getDerivedEncryptionKey(secret)
   return await new EncryptJWT(token)
     .setProtectedHeader({ alg: "dir", enc: "A256GCM" })
@@ -28,10 +25,8 @@ export async function encode({
 }
 
 /** Decodes a NextAuth.js issued JWT. */
-export async function decode({
-  token,
-  secret,
-}: JWTDecodeParams): Promise<JWT | null> {
+export async function decode(params: JWTDecodeParams): Promise<JWT | null> {
+  const { token, secret } = params
   if (!token) return null
   const encryptionSecret = await getDerivedEncryptionKey(secret)
   const { payload } = await jwtDecrypt(token, encryptionSecret, {
@@ -55,7 +50,11 @@ export interface GetTokenParams<R extends boolean = false> {
    * @default false
    */
   raw?: R
-  secret: string
+  /**
+   * The same `secret` used in the `NextAuth` configuration.
+   * Defaults to the `NEXTAUTH_SECRET` environment variable.
+   */
+  secret?: string
   decode?: JWTOptions["decode"]
   logger?: LoggerInstance | Console
 }
@@ -78,6 +77,7 @@ export async function getToken<R extends boolean = false>(
     raw,
     decode: _decode = decode,
     logger = console,
+    secret = process.env.NEXTAUTH_SECRET,
   } = params ?? {}
 
   if (!req) throw new Error("Must pass `req` to JWT getToken()")
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ export async function getToken<R extends boolean = false>(
 
   try {
     // @ts-expect-error
-    return await _decode({ token, ...params })
+    return await _decode({ token, secret })
   } catch {
     // @ts-expect-error
     return null
diff --git a/src/jwt/types.ts b/src/jwt/types.ts
index f588328a61..ecd0e2a9b0 100644
--- a/src/jwt/types.ts
+++ b/src/jwt/types.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,11 @@ export interface JWTDecodeParams {
 }
 
 export interface JWTOptions {
-  /** The secret used to encode/decode the NextAuth.js issued JWT. */
+  /**
+   * The secret used to encode/decode the NextAuth.js issued JWT.
+   * @deprecated  Set the `NEXTAUTH_SECRET` environment vairable or
+   * use the top-level `secret` option instead
+   */
   secret: string
   /**
    * The maximum age of the NextAuth.js issued JWT in seconds.
diff --git a/src/next/index.ts b/src/next/index.ts
index bc0794adb6..966b948493 100644
--- a/src/next/index.ts
+++ b/src/next/index.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ async function NextAuthNextHandler(
   options: NextAuthOptions
 ) {
   const { nextauth, ...query } = req.query
+
+  options.secret =
+    options.secret ?? options.jwt?.secret ?? process.env.NEXTAUTH_SECRET
+
   const handler = await NextAuthHandler({
     req: {
       host: detectHost(req.headers["x-forwarded-host"]),