diff --git a/common/config/rush/.npmrc b/common/config/rush/.npmrc
index 43f78388..e07ed674 100644
--- a/common/config/rush/.npmrc
+++ b/common/config/rush/.npmrc
@@ -22,12 +22,7 @@
 #
 #   //registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NPM_AUTH_TOKEN}
 #
-
-# Explicitly specify the NPM registry that "rush install" and "rush update" will use by default:
 registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/
 
-# Optionally provide an authentication token for the above registry URL (if it is a private registry):
-# //registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NPM_AUTH_TOKEN}
-
-# Change this to "true" if your registry requires authentication for read-only operations:
-always-auth=false
+# This seemed to interfere with authentication for publishing:
+# always-auth=false
diff --git a/common/config/rush/.npmrc-publish b/common/config/rush/.npmrc-publish
index 51acb920..ab748797 100644
--- a/common/config/rush/.npmrc-publish
+++ b/common/config/rush/.npmrc-publish
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@
 #   //registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NPM_AUTH_TOKEN}
 #
 
-# Explicitly specify the NPM registry that "rush publish" will use by default:
 registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/
-
-# Provide an authentication token for the above registry URL:
-# //registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NPM_AUTH_TOKEN}
+always-auth=true
+//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NPM_AUTH_TOKEN}