diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 47c0d61..f046e0c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # laminr v0.2.1
 
+## BUG FIXES
+
+* Allow connecting to private LaminDB instances (PR #118).
+
 ## DOCUMENTATION
 
 * Update the laminr Getting Started vignette with feedback from demo (PR #113).
diff --git a/R/InstanceAPI.R b/R/InstanceAPI.R
index 1038b53..6c62143 100644
--- a/R/InstanceAPI.R
+++ b/R/InstanceAPI.R
@@ -31,7 +31,10 @@ InstanceAPI <- R6::R6Class( # nolint object_name_linter
         "/schema"
       )
 
-      response <- httr::GET(url)
+      response <- httr::GET(
+        url,
+        httr::add_headers(.headers = private$get_headers())
+      )
 
       private$process_response(response, "get schema")
     },
@@ -99,10 +102,7 @@ InstanceAPI <- R6::R6Class( # nolint object_name_linter
 
       response <- httr::POST(
         url,
-        httr::add_headers(
-          accept = "application/json",
-          `Content-Type` = "application/json"
-        ),
+        httr::add_headers(.headers = private$get_headers()),
         body = body
       )
 
@@ -187,10 +187,7 @@ InstanceAPI <- R6::R6Class( # nolint object_name_linter
 
       response <- httr::POST(
         url,
-        httr::add_headers(
-          accept = "application/json",
-          `Content-Type` = "application/json"
-        ),
+        httr::add_headers(.headers = private$get_headers()),
         body = body
       )
 
@@ -202,13 +199,6 @@ InstanceAPI <- R6::R6Class( # nolint object_name_linter
                              registry_name,
                              id_or_uid,
                              verbose = FALSE) {
-      user_settings <- .get_user_settings()
-      if (is.null(user_settings$access_token)) {
-        cli::cli_abort(c(
-          "There is no access token for the current user",
-          "i" = "Run {.code lamin login} and reconnect to the database in a new R session"
-        ))
-      }
 
       url <- paste0(
         private$.instance_settings$api_url,
@@ -231,9 +221,7 @@ InstanceAPI <- R6::R6Class( # nolint object_name_linter
       response <- httr::DELETE(
         url,
         httr::add_headers(
-          accept = "application/json",
-          `Content-Type` = "application/json",
-          Authorization = paste("Bearer", user_settings$access_token)
+          .headers = private$get_headers(authorization_required = TRUE)
         )
       )
 
@@ -262,6 +250,24 @@ InstanceAPI <- R6::R6Class( # nolint object_name_linter
   ),
   private = list(
     .instance_settings = NULL,
+    get_headers = function(authorization_required = FALSE) {
+      headers <- c(
+        accept = "application/json",
+        `Content-Type` = "application/json"
+      )
+      user_settings <- .get_user_settings()
+
+      if (!is.null(user_settings$access_token)) {
+        headers[["Authorization"]] <- paste("Bearer", user_settings$access_token)
+      } else if (authorization_required) {
+        cli::cli_abort(c(
+          "There is no access token for the current user",
+          "i" = "Run {.code lamin login} and reconnect to the database in a new R session"
+        ))
+      }
+
+      return(headers)
+    },
     process_response = function(response, request_type) {
       content <- httr::content(response)
       if (httr::http_error(response)) {
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-connect_lamindata.R b/tests/testthat/test-connect.R
similarity index 77%
rename from tests/testthat/test-connect_lamindata.R
rename to tests/testthat/test-connect.R
index fdc1fb9..e189041 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-connect_lamindata.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-connect.R
@@ -24,3 +24,12 @@ test_that("Connecting to lamindata works", {
 
   expect_s3_class(artifact$wells, "RelatedRecords") # one-to-many
 })
+
+test_that("Connecting to a private instance works", {
+  skip_if_not_logged_in()
+
+  db <- connect("laminlabs/lamin-dev")
+
+  instance_settings <- db$get_settings()
+  expect_equal(instance_settings$name, "lamin-dev")
+})