diff --git a/apisix/plugins/openid-connect.lua b/apisix/plugins/openid-connect.lua
index 1ebc12deccda..3ecf9d246f0f 100644
--- a/apisix/plugins/openid-connect.lua
+++ b/apisix/plugins/openid-connect.lua
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ local function get_bearer_access_token(ctx)
     local auth_header = core.request.header(ctx, "Authorization")
     if not auth_header then
         -- No Authorization header, get X-Access-Token header, maybe.
-        local access_token_header = core.request.header(ctx, "X-Access-Token")
+        local access_token_header = ctx.openid_connect_client_x_access_token
         if not access_token_header then
             -- No X-Access-Token header neither.
             return false, nil, nil
@@ -573,20 +573,11 @@ end
 
 
 local function add_access_token_header(ctx, conf, token)
-    if token then
-        -- Add Authorization or X-Access-Token header, respectively, if not already set.
-        if conf.set_access_token_header then
-            if conf.access_token_in_authorization_header then
-                if not core.request.header(ctx, "Authorization") then
-                    -- Add Authorization header.
-                    core.request.set_header(ctx, "Authorization", "Bearer " .. token)
-                end
-            else
-                if not core.request.header(ctx, "X-Access-Token") then
-                    -- Add X-Access-Token header.
-                    core.request.set_header(ctx, "X-Access-Token", token)
-                end
-            end
+    if token and conf.set_access_token_header then
+        if conf.access_token_in_authorization_header then
+            core.request.set_header(ctx, "Authorization", "Bearer " .. token)
+        else
+            core.request.set_header(ctx, "X-Access-Token", token)
         end
     end
 end
@@ -626,6 +617,16 @@ end
 function _M.rewrite(plugin_conf, ctx)
     local conf = core.table.clone(plugin_conf)
 
+    -- Snapshot the client-supplied X-Access-Token (it doubles as a bearer
+    -- input via get_bearer_access_token) and clear the four headers this
+    -- plugin advertises as outputs so client-supplied values cannot bleed
+    -- through to the upstream.
+    ctx.openid_connect_client_x_access_token = core.request.header(ctx, "X-Access-Token")
+    core.request.set_header(ctx, "X-Access-Token", nil)
+    core.request.set_header(ctx, "X-Userinfo", nil)
+    core.request.set_header(ctx, "X-ID-Token", nil)
+    core.request.set_header(ctx, "X-Refresh-Token", nil)
+
     -- Previously, we multiply conf.timeout before storing it in etcd.
     -- If the timeout is too large, we should not multiply it again.
     if not (conf.timeout >= 1000 and conf.timeout % 1000 == 0) then
diff --git a/t/plugin/openid-connect-identity-headers.t b/t/plugin/openid-connect-identity-headers.t
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ca842c827397
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/plugin/openid-connect-identity-headers.t
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+# contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+# this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+# The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+# (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+# the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+use t::APISIX 'no_plan';
+
+repeat_each(1);
+no_long_string();
+no_root_location();
+
+add_block_preprocessor(sub {
+    my ($block) = @_;
+
+    if ((!defined $block->error_log) && (!defined $block->no_error_log)) {
+        $block->set_value("no_error_log", "[error]");
+    }
+
+    if (!defined $block->request) {
+        $block->set_value("request", "GET /t");
+    }
+});
+
+run_tests();
+
+__DATA__
+
+=== TEST 1: Set up route with unauth_action = "pass" so unauthenticated requests pass through.
+--- config
+    location /t {
+        content_by_lua_block {
+            local t = require("lib.test_admin").test
+            local code, body = t('/apisix/admin/routes/1',
+                 ngx.HTTP_PUT,
+                 [[{
+                        "plugins": {
+                            "openid-connect": {
+                                "client_id": "kbyuFDidLLm280LIwVFiazOqjO3ty8KH",
+                                "client_secret": "60Op4HFM0I8ajz0WdiStAbziZ-VFQttXuxixHHs2R7r7-CW8GR79l-mmLqMhc-Sa",
+                                "discovery": "https://samples.auth0.com/.well-known/openid-configuration",
+                                "redirect_uri": "https://iresty.com",
+                                "ssl_verify": false,
+                                "timeout": 10,
+                                "scope": "apisix",
+                                "unauth_action": "pass",
+                                "use_pkce": false,
+                                "session": {
+                                    "secret": "jwcE5v3pM9VhqLxmxFOH9uZaLo8u7KQK"
+                                }
+                            }
+                        },
+                        "upstream": {
+                            "nodes": {
+                                "127.0.0.1:1980": 1
+                            },
+                            "type": "roundrobin"
+                        },
+                        "uri": "/uri"
+                }]]
+                )
+            if code >= 300 then
+                ngx.status = code
+            end
+            ngx.say(body)
+        }
+    }
+--- response_body
+passed
+
+
+
+=== TEST 2: Access route without authentication. Client-supplied X-Userinfo / X-ID-Token / X-Refresh-Token / X-Access-Token must not reach upstream.
+--- request
+GET /uri HTTP/1.1
+--- more_headers
+X-Userinfo: client-supplied-userinfo
+X-ID-Token: client-supplied-id-token
+X-Refresh-Token: client-supplied-refresh-token
+X-Access-Token: client-supplied-access-token
+--- response_body
+uri: /uri
+host: localhost
+x-real-ip: 127.0.0.1
+--- error_code: 200
+
+
+
+=== TEST 3: Update route to bearer_only with embedded RS256 public key.
+--- config
+    location /t {
+        content_by_lua_block {
+            local t = require("lib.test_admin").test
+            local code, body = t('/apisix/admin/routes/1',
+                 ngx.HTTP_PUT,
+                 [[{ "plugins": {
+                            "openid-connect": {
+                                "client_id": "kbyuFDidLLm280LIwVFiazOqjO3ty8KH",
+                                "client_secret": "60Op4HFM0I8ajz0WdiStAbziZ-VFQttXuxixHHs2R7r7-CW8GR79l-mmLqMhc-Sa",
+                                "discovery": "https://samples.auth0.com/.well-known/openid-configuration",
+                                "redirect_uri": "https://iresty.com",
+                                "ssl_verify": false,
+                                "timeout": 10,
+                                "bearer_only": true,
+                                "scope": "apisix",
+                                "public_key": "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\n]] ..
+                                    [[MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAw86xcJwNxL2MkWnjIGiw\n]] ..
+                                    [[94QY78Sq89dLqMdV/Ku2GIX9lYkbS0VDGtmxDGJLBOYW4cKTX+pigJyzglLgE+nD\n]] ..
+                                    [[z3VJf2oCqSV74gTyEdi7sw9e1rCyR6dR8VA7LEpIHwmhnDhhjXy1IYSKRdiVHLS5\n]] ..
+                                    [[sYmaAGckpUo3MLqUrgydGj5tFzvK/R/ELuZBdlZM+XuWxYry05r860E3uL+VdVCO\n]] ..
+                                    [[oU4RJQknlJnTRd7ht8KKcZb6uM14C057i26zX/xnOJpaVflA4EyEo99hKQAdr8Sh\n]] ..
+                                    [[G70MOLYvGCZxl1o8S3q4X67MxcPlfJaXnbog2AOOGRaFar88XiLFWTbXMCLuz7xD\n]] ..
+                                    [[zQIDAQAB\n]] ..
+                                    [[-----END PUBLIC KEY-----",
+                                "token_signing_alg_values_expected": "RS256",
+                                "set_id_token_header": false,
+                                "set_userinfo_header": false,
+                                "claim_validator": {
+                                    "issuer": {
+                                        "valid_issuers": ["Mysoft corp"]
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            }
+                        },
+                        "upstream": {
+                            "nodes": {
+                                "127.0.0.1:1980": 1
+                            },
+                            "type": "roundrobin"
+                        },
+                        "uri": "/uri"
+                }]]
+                )
+
+            if code >= 300 then
+                ngx.status = code
+            end
+            ngx.say(body)
+        }
+    }
+--- response_body
+passed
+
+
+
+=== TEST 4: Access route with valid bearer token and a client-supplied X-Access-Token. Upstream must see the validated token, not the client value.
+--- request
+GET /uri HTTP/1.1
+--- more_headers
+Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJkYXRhMSI6IkRhdGEgMSIsImlhdCI6MTU4NTEyMjUwMiwiZXhwIjoxOTAwNjk4NTAyLCJhdWQiOiJodHRwOi8vbXlzb2Z0Y29ycC5pbiIsImlzcyI6Ik15c29mdCBjb3JwIiwic3ViIjoic29tZUB1c2VyLmNvbSJ9.Vq_sBN7nH67vMDbiJE01EP4hvJYE_5ju6izjkOX8pF5OS4g2RWKWpL6h6-b0tTkCzG4JD5BEl13LWW-Gxxw0i9vEK0FLg_kC_kZLYB8WuQ6B9B9YwzmZ3OLbgnYzt_VD7D-7psEbwapJl5hbFsIjDgOAEx-UCmjUcl2frZxZavG2LUiEGs9Ri7KqOZmTLgNDMWfeWh1t1LyD0_b-eTInbasVtKQxMlb5kR0Ln_Qg5092L-irJ7dqaZma7HItCnzXJROdqJEsMIBAYRwDGa_w5kIACeMOdU85QKtMHzOenYFkm6zh_s59ndziTctKMz196Y8AL08xuTi6d1gEWpM92A
+X-Access-Token: client-supplied-access-token
+--- response_body
+uri: /uri
+authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJkYXRhMSI6IkRhdGEgMSIsImlhdCI6MTU4NTEyMjUwMiwiZXhwIjoxOTAwNjk4NTAyLCJhdWQiOiJodHRwOi8vbXlzb2Z0Y29ycC5pbiIsImlzcyI6Ik15c29mdCBjb3JwIiwic3ViIjoic29tZUB1c2VyLmNvbSJ9.Vq_sBN7nH67vMDbiJE01EP4hvJYE_5ju6izjkOX8pF5OS4g2RWKWpL6h6-b0tTkCzG4JD5BEl13LWW-Gxxw0i9vEK0FLg_kC_kZLYB8WuQ6B9B9YwzmZ3OLbgnYzt_VD7D-7psEbwapJl5hbFsIjDgOAEx-UCmjUcl2frZxZavG2LUiEGs9Ri7KqOZmTLgNDMWfeWh1t1LyD0_b-eTInbasVtKQxMlb5kR0Ln_Qg5092L-irJ7dqaZma7HItCnzXJROdqJEsMIBAYRwDGa_w5kIACeMOdU85QKtMHzOenYFkm6zh_s59ndziTctKMz196Y8AL08xuTi6d1gEWpM92A
+host: localhost
+x-access-token: eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJkYXRhMSI6IkRhdGEgMSIsImlhdCI6MTU4NTEyMjUwMiwiZXhwIjoxOTAwNjk4NTAyLCJhdWQiOiJodHRwOi8vbXlzb2Z0Y29ycC5pbiIsImlzcyI6Ik15c29mdCBjb3JwIiwic3ViIjoic29tZUB1c2VyLmNvbSJ9.Vq_sBN7nH67vMDbiJE01EP4hvJYE_5ju6izjkOX8pF5OS4g2RWKWpL6h6-b0tTkCzG4JD5BEl13LWW-Gxxw0i9vEK0FLg_kC_kZLYB8WuQ6B9B9YwzmZ3OLbgnYzt_VD7D-7psEbwapJl5hbFsIjDgOAEx-UCmjUcl2frZxZavG2LUiEGs9Ri7KqOZmTLgNDMWfeWh1t1LyD0_b-eTInbasVtKQxMlb5kR0Ln_Qg5092L-irJ7dqaZma7HItCnzXJROdqJEsMIBAYRwDGa_w5kIACeMOdU85QKtMHzOenYFkm6zh_s59ndziTctKMz196Y8AL08xuTi6d1gEWpM92A
+x-real-ip: 127.0.0.1
+--- error_code: 200