diff --git a/features/step_definitions/request.rb b/features/step_definitions/request.rb
index cbb001d3fdec..511517b690b0 100644
--- a/features/step_definitions/request.rb
+++ b/features/step_definitions/request.rb
@@ -76,10 +76,10 @@ def build_given(api_version, operation)
 
     # make sure we have a fresh instance of API client and configuration
     given_api = Object.const_get("DatadogAPIClient::V#{api_version}")
-    given_configuration = given_api.const_get("Configuration").new
-    given_configuration.api_key['apiKeyAuth'] = ENV["DD_TEST_CLIENT_API_KEY"]
-    given_configuration.api_key['appKeyAuth'] = ENV["DD_TEST_CLIENT_APP_KEY"]
-    given_api_client = given_api.const_get("ApiClient").new given_configuration
+    given_configuration = given_api::Configuration.new
+    given_configuration.api_key = ENV["DD_TEST_CLIENT_API_KEY"]
+    given_configuration.application_key = ENV["DD_TEST_CLIENT_APP_KEY"]
+    given_api_client = given_api::ApiClient.new given_configuration
     given_api_instance = api.const_get("#{api_name}Api").new given_api_client
     method = given_api_instance.method("#{operation_name}_with_http_info".to_sym)
 
@@ -115,11 +115,11 @@ def build_given(api_version, operation)
 
 
 Given('a valid "apiKeyAuth" key in the system') do
-  configuration.api_key['apiKeyAuth'] = ENV["DD_TEST_CLIENT_API_KEY"]
+  configuration.api_key = ENV["DD_TEST_CLIENT_API_KEY"]
 end
 
 Given('a valid "appKeyAuth" key in the system') do
-  configuration.api_key['appKeyAuth'] = ENV["DD_TEST_CLIENT_APP_KEY"]
+  configuration.application_key = ENV["DD_TEST_CLIENT_APP_KEY"]
 end
 
 Given(/^an instance of "([^"]+)" API$/) do |api_name|
diff --git a/lib/datadog_api_client.rb b/lib/datadog_api_client.rb
index 7096afa0e308..a0e155cec050 100644
--- a/lib/datadog_api_client.rb
+++ b/lib/datadog_api_client.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 require 'datadog_api_client/version'
 require 'datadog_api_client/v1'
 require 'datadog_api_client/v2'
-
-
+require 'datadog_api_client/api_key_configuration'
diff --git a/lib/datadog_api_client/api_key_configuration.rb b/lib/datadog_api_client/api_key_configuration.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a7859ad72074
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/datadog_api_client/api_key_configuration.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+require 'datadog_api_client/v1'
+require 'datadog_api_client/v2'
+
+# Extend the automatically-generated client configuration classes with a user-friendly
+# authentication configuration, hiding the original #api_key method.
+
+module DatadogAPIClient::V1
+  class Configuration
+    private :api_key # Make original getter private
+
+    def api_key=(api_key)
+      @api_key['apiKeyAuth'] = api_key
+    end
+
+    def application_key=(app_key)
+      @api_key['appKeyAuth'] = app_key
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+module DatadogAPIClient::V2
+  class Configuration
+    private :api_key # Make original getter private
+
+    def api_key=(api_key)
+      @api_key['apiKeyAuth'] = api_key
+    end
+
+    def application_key=(app_key)
+      @api_key['appKeyAuth'] = app_key
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 00fa029fa560..108a85b11871 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -99,11 +99,11 @@ def load_fixture(fixture)
     m = example.metadata[:file_path].match /spec\/v(?<version>\d+)\/.*/
     @api_version = m[:version]
     api = Object.const_get("DatadogAPIClient::V#{@api_version}")
-    @configuration = api.const_get("Configuration").new
-    @configuration.api_key["apiKeyAuth"] = ENV["DD_TEST_CLIENT_API_KEY"]
-    @configuration.api_key["appKeyAuth"] = ENV["DD_TEST_CLIENT_APP_KEY"]
-    @configuration.debugging = (!ENV["DEBUG"].nil? and ENV["DEBUG"] != false)
-    @api_client = api.const_get("ApiClient").new @configuration
+    @configuration = api::Configuration.new
+    @configuration.api_key = ENV["DD_TEST_CLIENT_API_KEY"]
+    @configuration.application_key = ENV["DD_TEST_CLIENT_APP_KEY"]
+    @configuration.debugging = (!ENV["DEBUG"].nil? and ENV["DEBUG"] != "false")
+    @api_client = api::ApiClient.new @configuration
   end
 
   config.after(:suite) do