diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f16c1144..8adb8626 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1515,7 +1515,7 @@ Clients are expected to pass the JWT in one of the following ways (from best to
 
 2. As password. Username is arbitrary.
 
-3. As query parameter in the URL, with the `jwt` key. This method is discouraged since the JWT is visible and publicly shared if the URL is shared, causing a security issue.
+3. As query parameter in the URL, with the `jwt` key. This method is discouraged since the JWT is publicly shared when the URL is shared, causing a security issue.
 
 These are the recommended methods for each client:
 
diff --git a/apidocs/openapi.yaml b/apidocs/openapi.yaml
index 9f2990ea..761953c9 100644
--- a/apidocs/openapi.yaml
+++ b/apidocs/openapi.yaml
@@ -93,6 +93,12 @@ components:
           type: string
         authJWTClaimKey:
           type: string
+        authJWTExclude:
+          type: array
+          items:
+            $ref: '#/components/schemas/AuthInternalUserPermission'
+        authJWTInHTTPQuery:
+          type: boolean
 
         # Control API
         api:
diff --git a/internal/api/api.go b/internal/api/api.go
index 16a112d0..6544d3f5 100644
--- a/internal/api/api.go
+++ b/internal/api/api.go
@@ -249,6 +249,7 @@ func (a *API) middlewareOrigin(ctx *gin.Context) {
 func (a *API) middlewareAuth(ctx *gin.Context) {
 	req := &auth.Request{
 		Action:      conf.AuthActionAPI,
+		Query:       ctx.Request.URL.RawQuery,
 		Credentials: httpp.Credentials(ctx.Request),
 		IP:          net.ParseIP(ctx.ClientIP()),
 	}
diff --git a/internal/auth/manager.go b/internal/auth/manager.go
index 5869b252..8a9f9aac 100644
--- a/internal/auth/manager.go
+++ b/internal/auth/manager.go
@@ -27,6 +27,21 @@ const (
 	jwksRefreshPeriod = 60 * 60 * time.Second
 )
 
+func isHTTPRequest(r *Request) bool {
+	switch r.Action {
+	case conf.AuthActionPlayback, conf.AuthActionAPI,
+		conf.AuthActionMetrics, conf.AuthActionPprof:
+		return true
+	}
+
+	switch r.Protocol {
+	case ProtocolHLS, ProtocolWebRTC:
+		return true
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
 // Error is a authentication error.
 type Error struct {
 	Wrapped        error
@@ -77,6 +92,7 @@ type Manager struct {
 	JWTJWKSFingerprint string
 	JWTClaimKey        string
 	JWTExclude         []conf.AuthInternalUserPermission
+	JWTInHTTPQuery     bool
 	ReadTimeout        time.Duration
 
 	mutex           sync.RWMutex
@@ -219,18 +235,21 @@ func (m *Manager) authenticateJWT(req *Request) error {
 	case req.Credentials.Pass != "":
 		encodedJWT = req.Credentials.Pass
 
-	default:
+	case (!isHTTPRequest(req) || m.JWTInHTTPQuery):
 		var v url.Values
 		v, err = url.ParseQuery(req.Query)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
-		if len(v["jwt"]) != 1 {
+		if len(v["jwt"]) != 1 || len(v["jwt"][0]) == 0 {
 			return fmt.Errorf("JWT not provided")
 		}
 
 		encodedJWT = v["jwt"][0]
+
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("JWT not provided")
 	}
 
 	var cc jwtClaims
diff --git a/internal/auth/request.go b/internal/auth/request.go
index eaa3a9a0..3418b477 100644
--- a/internal/auth/request.go
+++ b/internal/auth/request.go
@@ -21,14 +21,11 @@ const (
 
 // Request is an authentication request.
 type Request struct {
-	Action conf.AuthAction
-
-	// only for ActionPublish, ActionRead, ActionPlayback
-	Path     string
-	Query    string
-	Protocol Protocol
-	ID       *uuid.UUID
-
+	Action           conf.AuthAction
+	Path             string // only for ActionPublish, ActionRead, ActionPlayback
+	Query            string
+	Protocol         Protocol   // only for ActionPublish, ActionRead
+	ID               *uuid.UUID // only for ActionPublish, ActionRead
 	Credentials      *Credentials
 	IP               net.IP
 	CustomVerifyFunc func(expectedUser string, expectedPass string) bool
diff --git a/internal/conf/conf.go b/internal/conf/conf.go
index 09fcf2cc..85a10fc0 100644
--- a/internal/conf/conf.go
+++ b/internal/conf/conf.go
@@ -181,6 +181,7 @@ type Conf struct {
 	AuthJWTJWKSFingerprint    string                      `json:"authJWTJWKSFingerprint"`
 	AuthJWTClaimKey           string                      `json:"authJWTClaimKey"`
 	AuthJWTExclude            AuthInternalUserPermissions `json:"authJWTExclude"`
+	AuthJWTInHTTPQuery        bool                        `json:"authJWTInHTTPQuery"`
 
 	// Control API
 	API               bool       `json:"api"`
@@ -335,6 +336,7 @@ func (conf *Conf) setDefaults() {
 	}
 	conf.AuthJWTClaimKey = "mediamtx_permissions"
 	conf.AuthJWTExclude = []AuthInternalUserPermission{}
+	conf.AuthJWTInHTTPQuery = true
 
 	// Control API
 	conf.APIAddress = ":9997"
diff --git a/internal/core/core.go b/internal/core/core.go
index 68c49c93..18039f7a 100644
--- a/internal/core/core.go
+++ b/internal/core/core.go
@@ -277,6 +277,7 @@ func (p *Core) createResources(initial bool) error {
 			JWTJWKSFingerprint: p.conf.AuthJWTJWKSFingerprint,
 			JWTClaimKey:        p.conf.AuthJWTClaimKey,
 			JWTExclude:         p.conf.AuthJWTExclude,
+			JWTInHTTPQuery:     p.conf.AuthJWTInHTTPQuery,
 			ReadTimeout:        time.Duration(p.conf.ReadTimeout),
 		}
 	}
@@ -637,6 +638,7 @@ func (p *Core) closeResources(newConf *conf.Conf, calledByAPI bool) {
 		newConf.AuthJWTJWKSFingerprint != p.conf.AuthJWTJWKSFingerprint ||
 		newConf.AuthJWTClaimKey != p.conf.AuthJWTClaimKey ||
 		!reflect.DeepEqual(newConf.AuthJWTExclude, p.conf.AuthJWTExclude) ||
+		newConf.AuthJWTInHTTPQuery != p.conf.AuthJWTInHTTPQuery ||
 		newConf.ReadTimeout != p.conf.ReadTimeout
 	if !closeAuthManager && !reflect.DeepEqual(newConf.AuthInternalUsers, p.conf.AuthInternalUsers) {
 		p.authManager.ReloadInternalUsers(newConf.AuthInternalUsers)
diff --git a/internal/metrics/metrics.go b/internal/metrics/metrics.go
index af87e3e3..31e27867 100644
--- a/internal/metrics/metrics.go
+++ b/internal/metrics/metrics.go
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ func (m *Metrics) middlewareOrigin(ctx *gin.Context) {
 func (m *Metrics) middlewareAuth(ctx *gin.Context) {
 	req := &auth.Request{
 		Action:      conf.AuthActionMetrics,
+		Query:       ctx.Request.URL.RawQuery,
 		Credentials: httpp.Credentials(ctx.Request),
 		IP:          net.ParseIP(ctx.ClientIP()),
 	}
diff --git a/internal/pprof/pprof.go b/internal/pprof/pprof.go
index 9d555eb9..cfa4182e 100644
--- a/internal/pprof/pprof.go
+++ b/internal/pprof/pprof.go
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ func (pp *PPROF) middlewareOrigin(ctx *gin.Context) {
 func (pp *PPROF) middlewareAuth(ctx *gin.Context) {
 	req := &auth.Request{
 		Action:      conf.AuthActionPprof,
+		Query:       ctx.Request.URL.RawQuery,
 		Credentials: httpp.Credentials(ctx.Request),
 		IP:          net.ParseIP(ctx.ClientIP()),
 	}
diff --git a/internal/testapidocs/apidocs_test.go b/internal/testapidocs/apidocs_test.go
index fe4ddc34..f4d14b13 100644
--- a/internal/testapidocs/apidocs_test.go
+++ b/internal/testapidocs/apidocs_test.go
@@ -14,9 +14,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 type openAPIProperty struct {
-	Ref      string `json:"$ref"`
-	Type     string `json:"type"`
-	Nullable bool   `json:"nullable"`
+	Ref      string           `json:"$ref"`
+	Type     string           `json:"type"`
+	Nullable bool             `json:"nullable"`
+	Items    *openAPIProperty `json:"items"`
 }
 
 type openAPISchema struct {
@@ -170,9 +171,19 @@ func TestAPIDocs(t *testing.T) {
 							Nullable: true,
 						}
 
+					case sf.Type == reflect.TypeOf(conf.AuthInternalUserPermissions{}):
+						content2.Properties[js] = openAPIProperty{
+							Type: "array",
+							Items: &openAPIProperty{
+								Ref: "#/components/schemas/AuthInternalUserPermission",
+							},
+						}
+
 					default:
 						if existing, ok := content1.Properties[js]; ok {
 							content2.Properties[js] = existing
+						} else {
+							t.Errorf("missing item: '%s'", js)
 						}
 					}
 				}
diff --git a/mediamtx.yml b/mediamtx.yml
index affd2c07..c05b4d10 100644
--- a/mediamtx.yml
+++ b/mediamtx.yml
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ authHTTPExclude:
 #     }
 #   ]
 # }
-# Users are expected to pass the JWT in the Authorization header or as password.
+# Users are expected to pass the JWT in the Authorization header, password or query parameter.
 # This is the JWKS URL that will be used to pull (once) the public key that allows
 # to validate JWTs.
 authJWTJWKS:
@@ -134,6 +134,9 @@ authJWTClaimKey: mediamtx_permissions
 # Actions to exclude from JWT-based authentication.
 # Format is the same as the one of user permissions.
 authJWTExclude: []
+# allow passing the JWT through query parameters of HTTP requests (i.e. ?jwt=JWT).
+# This is a security risk.
+authJWTInHTTPQuery: true
 
 ###############################################
 # Global settings -> Control API