diff --git a/packages/backend/src/tokens/jwt.ts b/packages/backend/src/tokens/jwt.ts
index ede108f4b2..b259a5cffb 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/tokens/jwt.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/tokens/jwt.ts
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ export async function verifyJwt(
 
   // Verify audience claim (aud)
   if (typeof aud === 'string') {
-    if (aud !== audience) {
+    if (audience && aud !== audience) {
       throw new TokenVerificationError({
         action: TokenVerificationErrorAction.EnsureClerkJWT,
         reason: TokenVerificationErrorReason.TokenVerificationFailed,
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ export async function verifyJwt(
       });
     }
   } else if (Array.isArray(aud) && aud.length > 0 && aud.every(a => typeof a === 'string')) {
-    if (!aud.includes(audience)) {
+    if (audience && !aud.includes(audience)) {
       throw new TokenVerificationError({
         action: TokenVerificationErrorAction.EnsureClerkJWT,
         reason: TokenVerificationErrorReason.TokenVerificationFailed,
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/tokens/request.ts b/packages/backend/src/tokens/request.ts
index cd0ebb210d..204a7b23c4 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/tokens/request.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/tokens/request.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,13 @@ export type RequiredVerifyTokenOptions = Required<
 export type OptionalVerifyTokenOptions = Partial<
   Pick<
     VerifyTokenOptions,
-    'authorizedParties' | 'clockSkewInSeconds' | 'jwksCacheTtlInMs' | 'skipJwksCache' | 'jwtKey' | 'proxyUrl'
+    | 'audience'
+    | 'authorizedParties'
+    | 'clockSkewInSeconds'
+    | 'jwksCacheTtlInMs'
+    | 'skipJwksCache'
+    | 'jwtKey'
+    | 'proxyUrl'
   >
 >;
 
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/tokens/verify.ts b/packages/backend/src/tokens/verify.ts
index c2031e4675..e3856135d4 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/tokens/verify.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/tokens/verify.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ export async function verifyToken(token: string, options: VerifyTokenOptions): P
     secretKey,
     apiUrl,
     apiVersion,
+    audience,
     authorizedParties,
     clockSkewInSeconds,
     issuer,
@@ -53,6 +54,7 @@ export async function verifyToken(token: string, options: VerifyTokenOptions): P
   }
 
   return await verifyJwt(token, {
+    audience,
     authorizedParties,
     clockSkewInSeconds,
     key,
diff --git a/packages/remix/src/ssr/authenticateRequest.ts b/packages/remix/src/ssr/authenticateRequest.ts
index 821ce29365..9cf8506e97 100644
--- a/packages/remix/src/ssr/authenticateRequest.ts
+++ b/packages/remix/src/ssr/authenticateRequest.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import { parseCookies } from './utils';
  */
 export function authenticateRequest(args: LoaderFunctionArgs, opts: RootAuthLoaderOptions = {}): Promise<RequestState> {
   const { request, context } = args;
-  const { loadSession, loadUser, loadOrganization, authorizedParties } = opts;
+  const { loadSession, loadUser, loadOrganization, audience, authorizedParties } = opts;
 
   // Fetch environment variables across Remix runtimes.
   // 1. First try from process.env if exists (Node).
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ export function authenticateRequest(args: LoaderFunctionArgs, opts: RootAuthLoad
     forwardedHost: headers.get('x-forwarded-host') as string,
     referrer: headers.get('referer') || '',
     userAgent: headers.get('user-agent') as string,
+    audience,
     authorizedParties,
     proxyUrl,
     isSatellite,
diff --git a/packages/remix/src/ssr/types.ts b/packages/remix/src/ssr/types.ts
index c02a0cc84b..ea637a939f 100644
--- a/packages/remix/src/ssr/types.ts
+++ b/packages/remix/src/ssr/types.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import type { AuthObject, Organization, Session, User } from '@clerk/backend';
+import type { AuthObject, OptionalVerifyTokenOptions, Organization, Session, User } from '@clerk/backend';
 import type { MultiDomainAndOrProxy } from '@clerk/types';
 import type { DataFunctionArgs, LoaderFunction } from '@remix-run/server-runtime';
 
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ export type RootAuthLoaderOptions = {
   loadUser?: boolean;
   loadSession?: boolean;
   loadOrganization?: boolean;
-  authorizedParties?: [];
-} & MultiDomainAndOrProxy;
+} & Pick<OptionalVerifyTokenOptions, 'audience' | 'authorizedParties'> &
+  MultiDomainAndOrProxy;
 
 export type RootAuthLoaderCallback<Options extends RootAuthLoaderOptions> = (
   args: LoaderFunctionArgsWithAuth<Options>,