diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cf08a3b8..13c7a813 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -281,14 +281,14 @@ at: [https://huggingface.github.io/text-embeddings-inference](https://huggingfac
 
 ### Using a private or gated model
 
-You have the option to utilize the `HUGGING_FACE_HUB_TOKEN` environment variable for configuring the token employed by
+You have the option to utilize the `HF_API_TOKEN` environment variable for configuring the token employed by
 `text-embeddings-inference`. This allows you to gain access to protected resources.
 
 For example:
 
 1. Go to https://huggingface.co/settings/tokens
 2. Copy your cli READ token
-3. Export `HUGGING_FACE_HUB_TOKEN=<your cli READ token>`
+3. Export `HF_API_TOKEN=<your cli READ token>`
 
 or with Docker:
 
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ model=<your private model>
 volume=$PWD/data # share a volume with the Docker container to avoid downloading weights every run
 token=<your cli READ token>
 
-docker run --gpus all -e HUGGING_FACE_HUB_TOKEN=$token -p 8080:80 -v $volume:/data --pull always ghcr.io/huggingface/text-embeddings-inference:1.2 --model-id $model
+docker run --gpus all -e HF_API_TOKEN=$token -p 8080:80 -v $volume:/data --pull always ghcr.io/huggingface/text-embeddings-inference:1.2 --model-id $model
 ```
 
 ### Using Re-rankers models
diff --git a/docs/source/en/private_models.md b/docs/source/en/private_models.md
index bd9041c7..6985f0d0 100644
--- a/docs/source/en/private_models.md
+++ b/docs/source/en/private_models.md
@@ -24,10 +24,10 @@ Once you have confirmed that you have access to the model:
 - Navigate to your account's [Profile | Settings | Access Tokens page](https://huggingface.co/settings/tokens).
 - Generate and copy a read token.
 
-If you're the CLI, set the `HUGGING_FACE_HUB_TOKEN` environment variable. For example:
+If you're the CLI, set the `HF_API_TOKEN` environment variable. For example:
 
 ```shell
-export HUGGING_FACE_HUB_TOKEN=<YOUR READ TOKEN>
+export HF_API_TOKEN=<YOUR READ TOKEN>
 ```
 
 Alternatively, you can provide the token when deploying the model with Docker:
@@ -37,5 +37,5 @@ model=<your private model>
 volume=$PWD/data
 token=<your cli Hugging Face Hub token>
 
-docker run --gpus all -e HUGGING_FACE_HUB_TOKEN=$token -p 8080:80 -v $volume:/data --pull always ghcr.io/huggingface/text-embeddings-inference:1.2 --model-id $model
+docker run --gpus all -e HF_API_TOKEN=$token -p 8080:80 -v $volume:/data --pull always ghcr.io/huggingface/text-embeddings-inference:1.2 --model-id $model
 ```