diff --git a/lib/gnat/handshake.ex b/lib/gnat/handshake.ex
index a6e7b1f..9c49e5e 100644
--- a/lib/gnat/handshake.ex
+++ b/lib/gnat/handshake.ex
@@ -15,8 +15,10 @@ defmodule Gnat.Handshake do
   end
 
   def negotiate_settings(server_settings, user_settings) do
+    auth_required = server_settings[:auth_required] || user_settings[:auth_required] || false
+
     %{verbose: false}
-    |> negotiate_auth(server_settings, user_settings)
+    |> negotiate_auth(server_settings, user_settings, auth_required)
     |> negotiate_headers(server_settings, user_settings)
   end
 
@@ -40,26 +42,26 @@ defmodule Gnat.Handshake do
     :gen_tcp.send(socket, "CONNECT " <> Jason.encode!(settings, maps: :strict) <> "\r\n")
   end
 
-  defp negotiate_auth(settings, %{auth_required: true}=_server, %{username: username, password: password}=_user) do
+  defp negotiate_auth(settings, _server, %{username: username, password: password}=_user, true = _auth_required) do
     Map.merge(settings, %{user: username, pass: password})
   end
-  defp negotiate_auth(settings, %{auth_required: true}=_server, %{token: token}=_user) do
+  defp negotiate_auth(settings, _server, %{token: token}=_user, true = _auth_required) do
     Map.merge(settings, %{auth_token: token})
   end
-  defp negotiate_auth(settings, %{auth_required: true, nonce: nonce}=_server, %{nkey_seed: seed, jwt: jwt}=_user) do
+  defp negotiate_auth(settings, %{nonce: nonce}=_server, %{nkey_seed: seed, jwt: jwt}=_user, true = _auth_required) do
     {:ok, nkey} = NKEYS.from_seed(seed)
     signature = NKEYS.sign(nkey, nonce) |> Base.url_encode64() |> String.replace("=", "")
 
     Map.merge(settings, %{sig: signature, protocol: 1, jwt: jwt})
   end
-  defp negotiate_auth(settings, %{auth_required: true, nonce: nonce}=_server, %{nkey_seed: seed}=_user) do
+  defp negotiate_auth(settings, %{nonce: nonce}=_server, %{nkey_seed: seed}=_user, true = _auth_required) do
     {:ok, nkey} = NKEYS.from_seed(seed)
     signature = NKEYS.sign(nkey, nonce) |> Base.url_encode64() |> String.replace("=", "")
     public = NKEYS.public_nkey(nkey)
 
     Map.merge(settings, %{sig: signature, protocol: 1, nkey: public})
   end
-  defp negotiate_auth(settings, _server, _user) do
+  defp negotiate_auth(settings, _server, _user, _auth_required) do
     settings
   end