diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index 72ba1a85cff0daa123cc050da554eda05dfb3b6e..b26afb42e74e5287978df83d71c9bedc8488bcc8 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
   end
 
   def authenticate_user_from_personal_access_token!
-    token_string = params[:personal_access_token].presence || request.headers['PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN'].presence
+    token_string = params[:private_token].presence || request.headers['PRIVATE-TOKEN'].presence
     personal_access_token = PersonalAccessToken.active.find_by_token(token_string)
     user = personal_access_token && personal_access_token.user
 
diff --git a/doc/api/README.md b/doc/api/README.md
index 0e9dc7acfed2d67d29b31d8cd444148ce88fa41e..276816b280740efe7744e09cdf0be709be12e123 100644
--- a/doc/api/README.md
+++ b/doc/api/README.md
@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ You can create as many personal access tokens as you like from your GitLab
 profile (`/profile/personal_access_tokens`); perhaps one for each application
 that needs access to the GitLab API.
 
-Once you have your token, pass it to the API using either the `personal_access_token` 
-parameter or the `PERSONAL-ACCESS-TOKEN` header.
+Once you have your token, pass it to the API using either the `private_token`
+parameter or the `PRIVATE-TOKEN` header.
 
 ## Basic Usage
 
diff --git a/lib/api/helpers.rb b/lib/api/helpers.rb
index de9a1b0eb949088687d0f84121db2ccbf53b3b9d..68642e2d8a7b828a867b81e21175934b83fb7ec7 100644
--- a/lib/api/helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/api/helpers.rb
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ module API
     PRIVATE_TOKEN_PARAM = :private_token
     SUDO_HEADER ="HTTP_SUDO"
     SUDO_PARAM = :sudo
-    PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN_PARAM = :personal_access_token
-    PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN_HEADER = "HTTP_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN"
+    PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN_PARAM = PRIVATE_TOKEN_PARAM
+    PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN_HEADER = PRIVATE_TOKEN_HEADER
 
     def parse_boolean(value)
       [ true, 1, '1', 't', 'T', 'true', 'TRUE', 'on', 'ON' ].include?(value)
diff --git a/spec/controllers/application_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/application_controller_spec.rb
index e8bdbf1afb72e831d63a204827912d80679b9747..d7835dc6e2bccb8230223bb95f341b4667a3684b 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/application_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/application_controller_spec.rb
@@ -72,20 +72,20 @@ describe ApplicationController do
     let(:personal_access_token) { create(:personal_access_token, user: user) }
 
     it "logs the user in when the 'personal_access_token' param is populated with the personal access token" do
-      get :index, personal_access_token: personal_access_token.token
+      get :index, private_token: personal_access_token.token
       expect(response.status).to eq(200)
       expect(response.body).to eq('authenticated')
     end
 
     it "logs the user in when the 'PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN' header is populated with the personal access token" do
-      @request.headers["PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN"] = personal_access_token.token
+      @request.headers["PRIVATE-TOKEN"] = personal_access_token.token
       get :index
       expect(response.status).to eq(200)
       expect(response.body).to eq('authenticated')
     end
 
     it "doesn't log the user in otherwise" do
-      get :index, personal_access_token: "token"
+      get :index, private_token: "token"
       expect(response.status).to_not eq(200)
       expect(response.body).to_not eq('authenticated')
     end