diff --git a/chat_listener.py b/chat_listener.py
index 433da6e..6ab5c97 100644
--- a/chat_listener.py
+++ b/chat_listener.py
@@ -6,8 +6,12 @@ class TwitchBot(twitchio.Client):
         # Store our application's database user ID to avoid conflict with twitchio's internal 'owner_id'
         self.db_user_id = db_user_id
 
+        # Per twitchio documentation, the token must be prefixed with 'oauth:'.
+        # This is a common cause of silent authentication failures.
+        formatted_token = f"oauth:{access_token}"
+
         super().__init__(
-            token=access_token,
+            token=formatted_token,
             # The client_id and client_secret are required for the client to
             # identify itself with Twitch's services.
             client_id=client_id,