diff --git a/R/provider-azure.R b/R/provider-azure.R
index 97bdc369..e8d06b30 100644
--- a/R/provider-azure.R
+++ b/R/provider-azure.R
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ NULL
 #' @param api_key The API key to use for authentication. You generally should
 #'   not supply this directly, but instead set the `AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY` environment
 #'   variable.
-#' @param token Azure token for authentication. This is typically not required for
-#' Azure OpenAI API calls, but can be used if your setup requires it.
+#' @param token Azure token object of class AzureToken for authentication. This is typically not required for
+#' Azure OpenAI API calls, but can be used if your setup requires it. The token object is retrieved using the AzureAuth package.#' Using the token object ensures a refresh method is available for the token.
 #' @inheritParams chat_openai
 #' @inherit chat_openai return
 #' @export
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ ProviderAzure <- new_class(
   parent = ProviderOpenAI,
   properties = list(
     api_key = prop_string(),
-    token = prop_string(allow_null = TRUE),
+    token = prop_azure_token(),
     endpoint = prop_string(),
     api_version = prop_string()
   )
@@ -86,8 +86,18 @@ method(chat_request, ProviderAzure) <- function(provider,
   req <- req_url_query(req, `api-version` = provider@api_version)
   req <- req_headers(req, `api-key` = provider@api_key, .redact = "api-key")
   if (!is.null(provider@token)) {
-    req <- req_auth_bearer_token(req, provider@token)
-  }
+    ## uses the token object method to validate the token (for example if it expired)
+    valid = provider@token$validate()
+    if(!valid ) {
+      # uses the token object method to refresh the token
+      token = provider@token$refresh()
+      access_token = token$credentials$access_token
+    }
+    ## retrieves the actual access token from the object for further use.
+    access_token = provider@token$credentials$access_token
+
+    req <- req_auth_bearer_token(req, access_token)
+    }
   req <- req_retry(req, max_tries = 2)
   req <- req_error(req, body = function(resp) resp_body_json(resp)$message)
 
diff --git a/R/utils-S7.R b/R/utils-S7.R
index 909e1f69..06ad09f0 100644
--- a/R/utils-S7.R
+++ b/R/utils-S7.R
@@ -94,3 +94,25 @@ prop_number_whole <- function(default = NULL, min = NULL, max = NULL, allow_null
     }
   )
 }
+
+prop_azure_token <- function(allow_null = FALSE) {
+  force(allow_null)
+  ## The call to AzureAuth ensures that the class name of the Azure Token does not change
+  class_name = AzureAuth::AzureToken$self$classname
+  ## The returned token object is R6 - not currently supported by the S7::as_class()
+  ## so I made a new S3 class to use validator
+  AzureToken_class <- new_S3_class(class_name)
+
+  new_property(
+    class = if (allow_null) NULL | AzureToken_class else AzureToken_class,
+    validator = function(value) {
+      if (allow_null && is.null(value)) {
+        return()
+      }
+
+      if (!inherits(value, class_name)) {
+        paste0("must be an object of class <", class_name, ">, not ", obj_type_friendly(value), ".")
+      }
+    }
+  )
+}
diff --git a/man/chat_azure.Rd b/man/chat_azure.Rd
index 291629c9..3246cdd0 100644
--- a/man/chat_azure.Rd
+++ b/man/chat_azure.Rd
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ scratch.}
 not supply this directly, but instead set the \code{AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY} environment
 variable.}
 
-\item{token}{Azure token for authentication. This is typically not required for
-Azure OpenAI API calls, but can be used if your setup requires it.}
+\item{token}{Azure token object of class AzureToken for authentication. This is typically not required for
+Azure OpenAI API calls, but can be used if your setup requires it. The token object is retrieved using the AzureAuth package.#' Using the token object ensures a refresh method is available for the token.}
 
 \item{api_args}{Named list of arbitrary extra arguments appended to the body
 of every chat API call.}