diff --git a/cmd/common-main.go b/cmd/common-main.go
index ef253bf43..b8e369423 100644
--- a/cmd/common-main.go
+++ b/cmd/common-main.go
@@ -193,6 +193,9 @@ func minioConfigToConsoleFeatures() {
 	if globalSubnetConfig.License != "" {
 		os.Setenv("CONSOLE_SUBNET_LICENSE", globalSubnetConfig.License)
 	}
+	if globalSubnetConfig.APIKey != "" {
+		os.Setenv("CONSOLE_SUBNET_API_KEY", globalSubnetConfig.APIKey)
+	}
 }
 
 func initConsoleServer() (*restapi.Server, error) {
diff --git a/cmd/config-current.go b/cmd/config-current.go
index b1b59ec71..6093fbf53 100644
--- a/cmd/config-current.go
+++ b/cmd/config-current.go
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ func initHelp() {
 		config.HelpKV{
 			Key:         config.SubnetSubSys,
 			Type:        "string",
-			Description: "set subnet config for the cluster e.g. license token",
+			Description: "set subnet config for the cluster e.g. api key",
 			Optional:    true,
 		},
 	}
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ func initHelp() {
 		config.NotifyRedisSubSys:    notify.HelpRedis,
 		config.NotifyWebhookSubSys:  notify.HelpWebhook,
 		config.NotifyESSubSys:       notify.HelpES,
-		config.SubnetSubSys:         subnet.HelpLicense,
+		config.SubnetSubSys:         subnet.HelpSubnet,
 	}
 
 	config.RegisterHelpSubSys(helpMap)
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index 0f823bd61..92f33f3da 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -60,7 +60,8 @@ const (
 	RegionName = "name"
 	AccessKey  = "access_key"
 	SecretKey  = "secret_key"
-	License    = "license"
+	License    = "license" // Deprecated Dec 2021
+	APIKey     = "api_key"
 )
 
 // Top level config constants.
diff --git a/internal/config/constants.go b/internal/config/constants.go
index 6bab109f7..7b87d9a75 100644
--- a/internal/config/constants.go
+++ b/internal/config/constants.go
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ const (
 	EnvSiteName   = "MINIO_SITE_NAME"
 	EnvSiteRegion = "MINIO_SITE_REGION"
 
-	EnvMinIOSubnetLicense      = "MINIO_SUBNET_LICENSE"
+	EnvMinIOSubnetLicense      = "MINIO_SUBNET_LICENSE" // Deprecated Dec 2021
+	EnvMinIOSubnetAPIKey       = "MINIO_SUBNET_API_KEY"
 	EnvMinIOServerURL          = "MINIO_SERVER_URL"
 	EnvMinIOBrowserRedirectURL = "MINIO_BROWSER_REDIRECT_URL"
 	EnvRootDiskThresholdSize   = "MINIO_ROOTDISK_THRESHOLD_SIZE"
diff --git a/internal/config/subnet/license.go b/internal/config/subnet/api-key.go
similarity index 68%
rename from internal/config/subnet/license.go
rename to internal/config/subnet/api-key.go
index 0882ccd94..5ea24a4ea 100644
--- a/internal/config/subnet/license.go
+++ b/internal/config/subnet/api-key.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 package subnet
 
 import (
-	jwtgo "github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v4"
 	"github.com/minio/minio/internal/config"
 	"github.com/minio/pkg/env"
 )
@@ -27,17 +26,27 @@ var (
 	// DefaultKVS - default KV config for subnet settings
 	DefaultKVS = config.KVS{
 		config.KV{
-			Key:   config.License,
+			Key:   config.License, // Deprecated Dec 2021
+			Value: "",
+		},
+		config.KV{
+			Key:   config.APIKey,
 			Value: "",
 		},
 	}
 
-	// HelpLicense - provides help for license config
-	HelpLicense = config.HelpKVS{
+	// HelpSubnet - provides help for subnet api key config
+	HelpSubnet = config.HelpKVS{
 		config.HelpKV{
-			Key:         config.License,
+			Key:         config.License, // Deprecated Dec 2021
 			Type:        "string",
-			Description: "Subnet license token for the cluster",
+			Description: "[DEPRECATED use api_key] Subnet license token for the cluster",
+			Optional:    true,
+		},
+		config.HelpKV{
+			Key:         config.APIKey,
+			Type:        "string",
+			Description: "Subnet api key for the cluster",
 			Optional:    true,
 		},
 	}
@@ -45,18 +54,11 @@ var (
 
 // Config represents the subnet related configuration
 type Config struct {
-	// The subnet license token
+	// The subnet license token - Deprecated Dec 2021
 	License string `json:"license"`
-}
 
-func validateLicenseFormat(lic string) error {
-	if len(lic) == 0 {
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	// Only verifying that the string is a parseable JWT token as of now
-	_, _, err := new(jwtgo.Parser).ParseUnverified(lic, jwtgo.MapClaims{})
-	return err
+	// The subnet api key
+	APIKey string `json:"api_key"`
 }
 
 // LookupConfig - lookup config and override with valid environment settings if any.
@@ -66,6 +68,7 @@ func LookupConfig(kvs config.KVS) (cfg Config, err error) {
 	}
 
 	cfg.License = env.Get(config.EnvMinIOSubnetLicense, kvs.Get(config.License))
+	cfg.APIKey = env.Get(config.EnvMinIOSubnetAPIKey, kvs.Get(config.APIKey))
 
-	return cfg, validateLicenseFormat(cfg.License)
+	return cfg, nil
 }