diff --git a/frontend/benefit/applicant/src/hooks/useUserQuery.ts b/frontend/benefit/applicant/src/hooks/useUserQuery.ts
index c3958671ca..98233451f1 100644
--- a/frontend/benefit/applicant/src/hooks/useUserQuery.ts
+++ b/frontend/benefit/applicant/src/hooks/useUserQuery.ts
@@ -52,8 +52,10 @@ const useUserQuery = (
       select: (data) => camelcaseKeys(data, { deep: true }),
       onError: (error) => handleError(error),
       onSuccess: (data) => {
-        setLocalStorageItem(LOCAL_STORAGE_KEYS.CSRF_TOKEN, data.csrfToken);
-        if (data.id && data.termsOfServiceApprovalNeeded)
+        const { id, csrfToken, termsOfServiceApprovalNeeded } = data;
+        setLocalStorageItem(LOCAL_STORAGE_KEYS.CSRF_TOKEN, csrfToken);
+        axios.defaults.headers['X-CSRFToken'] = csrfToken;
+        if (id && termsOfServiceApprovalNeeded)
           setLocalStorageItem(
             LOCAL_STORAGE_KEYS.IS_TERMS_OF_SERVICE_APPROVED,
             'false'
diff --git a/frontend/benefit/handler/src/hooks/useUserQuery.ts b/frontend/benefit/handler/src/hooks/useUserQuery.ts
index 644b942720..bf72a18692 100644
--- a/frontend/benefit/handler/src/hooks/useUserQuery.ts
+++ b/frontend/benefit/handler/src/hooks/useUserQuery.ts
@@ -47,11 +47,6 @@ const useUserQuery = <T extends User>(
     }
   };
 
-  const onSuccessHandler = (user: User): void => {
-    checkForStaffStatus(user);
-    setLocalStorageItem(LOCAL_STORAGE_KEYS.CSRF_TOKEN, user.csrf_token);
-  };
-
   return useQuery(
     `${BackendEndpoint.USER_ME}`,
     () => handleResponse<User>(axios.get(BackendEndpoint.USER_ME)),
@@ -60,7 +55,11 @@ const useUserQuery = <T extends User>(
       enabled: !logout,
       retry: false,
       select,
-      onSuccess: onSuccessHandler,
+      onSuccess: (user: User): void => {
+        checkForStaffStatus(user);
+        setLocalStorageItem(LOCAL_STORAGE_KEYS.CSRF_TOKEN, user.csrf_token);
+        axios.defaults.headers['X-CSRFToken'] = user.csrf_token;
+      },
       onError: (error) => handleError(error),
     }
   );