diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 7cfe1f5..3db0491 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
         "php": "^7.2|^8.0",
         "ext-xml": "*",
         "johnstevenson/json-works": "~1.1",
-        "firebase/php-jwt": "^6.0",
+        "firebase/php-jwt": "^6.11",
         "guzzlehttp/guzzle": "~6.0|~7.0",
       "ext-json": "*",
         "vonage/jwt": "^0.5.1"
diff --git a/src/OpenTok/OpenTok.php b/src/OpenTok/OpenTok.php
index 7250673..a4ef38b 100644
--- a/src/OpenTok/OpenTok.php
+++ b/src/OpenTok/OpenTok.php
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 namespace OpenTok;
 
 use DateTimeImmutable;
+use Firebase\JWT\JWT;
 use Firebase\JWT\Key;
 use Lcobucci\JWT\Configuration;
 use Lcobucci\JWT\Encoding\ChainedFormatter;
@@ -84,7 +85,7 @@ public function __construct($apiKey, $apiSecret, $options = array())
      * @param string $sessionId The session ID corresponding to the session to which the user
      * will connect.
      *
-     * @param array $options This array defines options for the token. This array includes the
+     * @param array $payload This array defines options for the token. This array includes the
      * following keys, all of which are optional:
      *
      * <ul>
@@ -114,52 +115,31 @@ public function __construct($apiKey, $apiSecret, $options = array())
      * </ul>
      *
      * @param bool $legacy By default, OpenTok uses SHA256 JWTs for authentication. Switching
-     * legacy to true will create a deprecated T1 token for backwards compatibility.
+     * legacy to true will create a T1 token for backwards compatibility.
      *
      * @return string The token string.
      */
-    public function generateToken(string $sessionId, array $options = array(), bool $legacy = false): string
+    public function generateToken(string $sessionId, array $payload = array(), bool $legacy = false): string
     {
-        // Note, JWT generation disabled due to a backend bug regarding `exp` claims being mandatory - CRT
-        // if ($legacy) {
-        return $this->returnLegacyToken($sessionId, $options);
-        // }
-
-        // $issuedAt = new \DateTimeImmutable('@' . time());
-
-        // $defaults = [
-        //     'session_id' => $sessionId,
-        //     'role' => Role::PUBLISHER,
-        //     'expireTime' => null,
-        //     'initial_layout_list' => [''],
-        //     'ist' => 'project',
-        //     'nonce' => mt_rand(),
-        //     'scope' => 'session.connect'
-        // ];
-
-        // $options = array_merge($defaults, array_intersect_key($options, $defaults));
-
-        // $builder = new Builder(new JoseEncoder(), ChainedFormatter::default());
-        // $builder = $builder->issuedBy($this->apiKey);
-
-        // if ($options['expireTime']) {
-        //     $expiry = new \DateTimeImmutable('@' . $options['expireTime']);
-        //     $builder = $builder->expiresAt($expiry);
-        // }
-
-        // unset($options['expireTime']);
+        if ($legacy) {
+            return $this->returnLegacyToken($sessionId, $payload);
+        }
 
-        // $builder = $builder->issuedAt($issuedAt);
-        // $builder = $builder->canOnlyBeUsedAfter($issuedAt);
-        // $builder = $builder->identifiedBy(bin2hex(random_bytes(16)));
+        $issuedAt = new \DateTimeImmutable('@' . time());
 
-        // foreach ($options as $key => $value) {
-        //     $builder = $builder->withClaim($key, $value);
-        // }
+        $defaults = [
+            'iss' => $this->apiKey,
+            'iat' => $issuedAt->getTimestamp(),
+            'session_id' => $sessionId,
+            'role' => Role::PUBLISHER,
+            'ist' => 'project',
+            'nonce' => mt_rand(),
+            'scope' => 'session.connect'
+        ];
 
-        // $token = $builder->getToken(new \Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Hmac\Sha256(), InMemory::plainText($this->apiSecret));
+        $payload = array_merge($defaults, array_intersect_key($payload, $defaults));
 
-        // return $token->toString();
+        return JWT::encode($payload, $this->apiSecret, 'HS256');
     }
 
     private function returnLegacyToken(string $sessionId, array $options = []): string
diff --git a/tests/OpenTokTest/OpenTokTest.php b/tests/OpenTokTest/OpenTokTest.php
index 4920acb..996f8c9 100644
--- a/tests/OpenTokTest/OpenTokTest.php
+++ b/tests/OpenTokTest/OpenTokTest.php
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 namespace OpenTokTest;
 
+use Firebase\JWT\JWT;
+use Firebase\JWT\Key;
 use Lcobucci\JWT\Configuration;
 use Lcobucci\JWT\Token\Plain;
 use OpenTok\Render;
@@ -753,41 +755,28 @@ public function testWillCreateLegacyT1WhenRequested(): void
     public function testWillCreateLegacyT1DirectlyToBypassExpBug(): void
     {
         $openTok = new OpenTok('12345678', '0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789');
-        $token = $openTok->generateToken('1_MX4xMjM0NTY3OH4-VGh1IEZlYiAyNyAwNDozODozMSBQU1QgMjAxNH4wLjI0NDgyMjI', []);
+        $token = $openTok->generateToken('1_MX4xMjM0NTY3OH4-VGh1IEZlYiAyNyAwNDozODozMSBQU1QgMjAxNH4wLjI0NDgyMjI', [], true);
 
         $this->assertEquals('T1', substr($token, 0, 2));
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Makes sure that a JWT is generated for the client-side token
-     * 
-     * Currently disabled due to the backend requiring an `exp` claim, which was
-     * not required on T1s. Uncomment when the backend is fixed. - CRT
-     */
-    // public function testWillCreateJwt(): void
-    // {
-    //     $openTok = new OpenTok('my-api-key', 'my-super-long-and-cool-api-secret');
-    //     $token = $openTok->generateToken('some-token-value');
-
-    //     $config = Configuration::forSymmetricSigner(
-    //         new \Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Hmac\Sha256(),
-    //         \Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\InMemory::plainText('my-super-long-and-cool-api-secret')
-    //     );
-
-    //     $token = $config->parser()->parse($token);
-    //     $this->assertInstanceOf(Plain::class, $token);
-
-    //     $this->assertTrue($config->validator()->validate($token, new \Lcobucci\JWT\Validation\Constraint\SignedWith(
-    //         $config->signer(),
-    //         $config->signingKey()
-    //     )));
-
-    //     $this->assertEquals('my-api-key', $token->claims()->get('iss'));
-    //     $this->assertEquals('some-token-value', $token->claims()->get('session_id'));
-    //     $this->assertEquals('publisher', $token->claims()->get('role'));
-    //     $this->assertEquals('project', $token->claims()->get('ist'));
-    //     $this->assertEquals('session.connect', $token->claims()->get('scope'));
-    // }
+    public function testWillGenerateSha256Token(): void
+    {
+        $openTok = new OpenTok('12345678', '0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789');
+        $token = $openTok->generateToken('1_MX4xMjM0NTY3OH4-VGh1IEZlYiAyNyAwNDozODozMSBQU1QgMjAxNH4wLjI0NDgyMjI');
+
+        $this->assertNotEquals('T1', substr($token, 0, 2));
+
+        $decoded = JWT::decode($token, new Key('0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789', 'HS256'));
+        $decodedArray = (array) $decoded;
+
+        $this->assertEquals('12345678', $decodedArray['iss']);
+        $this->assertEquals('1_MX4xMjM0NTY3OH4-VGh1IEZlYiAyNyAwNDozODozMSBQU1QgMjAxNH4wLjI0NDgyMjI', $decodedArray['session_id']);
+        $this->assertEquals('project', $decodedArray['ist']);
+        $this->assertEquals('session.connect', $decodedArray['scope']);
+        $this->assertEquals('publisher', $decodedArray['role']);
+
+    }
 
     public function testStartsArchive(): void
     {