diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d1a0b48f..0422424e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- Fixed `quill generate` requiring authentication. (#181)
 - Require an additional `--already-transferred` flag for the single-message form of `quill neuron-stake`. (#173)
 - Added `--disburse-amount` and `--disburse-to` to `quill neuron-manage`. (#171)
 - Accepts bare principals and ICRC-1 account IDs in `quill account-balance` and `quill transfer`. (#168)
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 3bebe4ff..e6e47336 100755
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -81,7 +81,11 @@ fn main() -> AnyhowResult {
     let opts = CliOpts::parse();
     let qr = opts.global_opts.qr;
     let fetch_root_key = opts.global_opts.fetch_root_key;
-    let auth = get_auth(opts.global_opts)?;
+    let auth = if let commands::Command::Generate(_) = &opts.command {
+        AuthInfo::NoAuth
+    } else {
+        get_auth(opts.global_opts)?
+    };
     commands::dispatch(&auth, opts.command, fetch_root_key, qr)?;
     Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/tests/commands/generate.sh b/tests/commands/generate.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..544cdf5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/commands/generate.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+p=$(mktemp) 
+err=$(mktemp)
+"$QUILL" generate --phrase "tornado allow zero warm have deer wool finish tiger ski dynamic strong" --seed-file /dev/null --overwrite-seed-file --pem-file "$p" --overwrite-pem-file &> "$err" || { cat "$err" >&2 && exit 1 ; }
+"$QUILL" public-ids --pem-file "$p"
diff --git a/tests/outputs/generate.txt b/tests/outputs/generate.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e7a0fade
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/outputs/generate.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Principal id: beckf-r6bg7-t6ju6-s7k45-b5jtj-mcm57-zjaie-svgrr-7ekzs-55v75-sae
+Account id: ffc463646a2c92dce58d1179d26c64d4ccbaf1079a6edc5628cedc0d4b3b1866