diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f641131c9..d07282dd6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## Unreleased
+
+### Fixes
+
+- Don't add Expo Plugin option `authToken` to application bundle ([#3630](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-react-native/pull/3630))
+  - Expo plugin configurations are generelly stored in plain text, and are also automatically added to built app bundles, and are therefore considered insecure.
+  - You should not set the auth token in the plugin config except for local testing. Instead, use the `SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN` env variable, as pointed out in our [docs](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/react-native/manual-setup/expo/).
+  - In addition to showing a warning, we are now actively removing an `authToken` from the plugin config if it was set.
+  - If you had set the auth token in the plugin config previously, **and** built and published an app with that config, you should [rotate your token](https://docs.sentry.io/product/accounts/auth-tokens/).
+
 ## 5.19.0
 
 This release contains upgrade of `sentry-android` dependency to major version 7. There are no breaking changes in the JS API. If you are using the Android API please check [the migration guide](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/android/migration/#migrating-from-iosentrysentry-android-6x-to-iosentrysentry-android-700).
diff --git a/plugin/src/withSentry.ts b/plugin/src/withSentry.ts
index f1a4022fd..acf6ff4d6 100644
--- a/plugin/src/withSentry.ts
+++ b/plugin/src/withSentry.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@ interface PluginProps {
 
 const withSentryPlugin: ConfigPlugin<PluginProps | void> = (config, props) => {
   const sentryProperties = getSentryProperties(props);
+
+  if (props && props.authToken) {
+    // If not removed, the plugin config with the authToken will be written to the application package
+    delete props.authToken;
+  }
+
   let cfg = config;
   if (sentryProperties !== null) {
     try {
@@ -33,12 +39,14 @@ const withSentryPlugin: ConfigPlugin<PluginProps | void> = (config, props) => {
       );
     }
   }
+
   return cfg;
 };
 
-const missingAuthTokenMessage = '# auth.token is configured through SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN environment variable';
 const missingProjectMessage = '# no project found, falling back to SENTRY_PROJECT environment variable';
 const missingOrgMessage = '# no org found, falling back to SENTRY_ORG environment variable';
+const existingAuthTokenMessage = `# DO NOT COMMIT the auth token, use SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN instead, see https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/react-native/manual-setup/`;
+const missingAuthTokenMessage = `# Using SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN environment variable`;
 
 export function getSentryProperties(props: PluginProps | void): string | null {
   const { organization, project, authToken, url = 'https://sentry.io/' } = props ?? {};
@@ -56,12 +64,7 @@ export function getSentryProperties(props: PluginProps | void): string | null {
   return `defaults.url=${url}
 ${organization ? `defaults.org=${organization}` : missingOrgMessage}
 ${project ? `defaults.project=${project}` : missingProjectMessage}
-${
-  authToken
-    ? `# Configure this value through \`SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN\` environment variable instead. See: https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/react-native/manual-setup/\nauth.token=${authToken}`
-    : missingAuthTokenMessage
-}
-`;
+${authToken ? `${existingAuthTokenMessage}\nauth.token=${authToken}` : missingAuthTokenMessage}`;
 }
 
 // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unsafe-member-access