diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index b47b03aa..f12cda47 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -2,12 +2,16 @@
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+
+* Add enhanced middleware configuration to the StacApi class, enabling specific middleware options and dynamic addition post-application initialization. ([#442](https://github.com/stac-utils/stac-fastapi/pull/442))
+* Add Response Model to OpenAPI, even if model validation is turned off ([#625](https://github.com/stac-utils/stac-fastapi/pull/625))
+
 ## Changes
 
 * Update to pydantic v2 and stac_pydantic v3 ([#625](https://github.com/stac-utils/stac-fastapi/pull/625))
 * Removed internal Search and Operator Types in favor of stac_pydantic Types ([#625](https://github.com/stac-utils/stac-fastapi/pull/625))
 * Fix response model validation ([#625](https://github.com/stac-utils/stac-fastapi/pull/625))
-* Add Response Model to OpenAPI, even if model validation is turned off ([#625](https://github.com/stac-utils/stac-fastapi/pull/625))
 * Use status code 201 for Item/Collection creation ([#625](https://github.com/stac-utils/stac-fastapi/pull/625))
 * Replace Black with Ruff Format ([#625](https://github.com/stac-utils/stac-fastapi/pull/625))
 
diff --git a/stac_fastapi/api/stac_fastapi/api/app.py b/stac_fastapi/api/stac_fastapi/api/app.py
index 194b22a0..ed9a1cc7 100644
--- a/stac_fastapi/api/stac_fastapi/api/app.py
+++ b/stac_fastapi/api/stac_fastapi/api/app.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from stac_pydantic.api.collections import Collections
 from stac_pydantic.api.version import STAC_API_VERSION
 from stac_pydantic.shared import MimeTypes
+from starlette.middleware import Middleware
 from starlette.responses import JSONResponse, Response
 
 from stac_fastapi.api.errors import DEFAULT_STATUS_CODES, add_exception_handlers
@@ -109,9 +110,13 @@ class StacApi:
     )
     pagination_extension = attr.ib(default=TokenPaginationExtension)
     response_class: Type[Response] = attr.ib(default=JSONResponse)
-    middlewares: List = attr.ib(
+    middlewares: List[Middleware] = attr.ib(
         default=attr.Factory(
-            lambda: [BrotliMiddleware, CORSMiddleware, ProxyHeaderMiddleware]
+            lambda: [
+                Middleware(BrotliMiddleware),
+                Middleware(CORSMiddleware),
+                Middleware(ProxyHeaderMiddleware),
+            ]
         )
     )
     route_dependencies: List[Tuple[List[Scope], List[Depends]]] = attr.ib(default=[])
@@ -434,6 +439,11 @@ def add_route_dependencies(
         """
         return add_route_dependencies(self.app.router.routes, scopes, dependencies)
 
+    def add_middleware(self, middleware: Middleware):
+        """Add a middleware class to the application."""
+        self.app.user_middleware.insert(0, middleware)
+        self.app.middleware_stack = self.app.build_middleware_stack()
+
     def __attrs_post_init__(self):
         """Post-init hook.
 
@@ -478,7 +488,7 @@ def __attrs_post_init__(self):
 
         # add middlewares
         for middleware in self.middlewares:
-            self.app.add_middleware(middleware)
+            self.add_middleware(middleware)
 
         # customize route dependencies
         for scopes, dependencies in self.route_dependencies: