diff --git a/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/workloadidentityv1_test.go b/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/workloadidentityv1_test.go
index 1e855fec0d6e2..de8d27a291ca2 100644
--- a/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/workloadidentityv1_test.go
+++ b/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/workloadidentityv1_test.go
@@ -22,13 +22,16 @@ import (
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"crypto/x509"
 	"crypto/x509/pkix"
+	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"math/big"
 	"net"
 	"os"
+	"regexp"
 	"slices"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -750,6 +753,33 @@ func TestIssueWorkloadIdentity(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			requireErr: require.NoError,
 			assert: func(t *testing.T, res *workloadidentityv1pb.IssueWorkloadIdentityResponse) {
+				// Checks for a bug where unix epoch timestamps (e.g. the `exp`
+				// and `iat` claims) were represented in scientific notation
+				// rather than as plain integers due to a conversion bug.
+				payloadSection := strings.Split(
+					res.GetCredential().GetJwtSvid().GetJwt(),
+					".",
+				)[1]
+				payload, err := base64.RawURLEncoding.DecodeString(strings.TrimRight(payloadSection, "="))
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+
+				var numericClaims struct {
+					Exp json.Number `json:"exp"`
+					Iat json.Number `json:"iat"`
+				}
+				require.NoError(t, json.Unmarshal(payload, &numericClaims))
+
+				integerExpr, err := regexp.Compile(`^\d+$`)
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+				require.Truef(t,
+					integerExpr.MatchString(numericClaims.Exp.String()),
+					"unexpected number format: %s", numericClaims.Exp.String(),
+				)
+				require.Truef(t,
+					integerExpr.MatchString(numericClaims.Iat.String()),
+					"unexpected number format: %s", numericClaims.Iat.String(),
+				)
+
 				parsed, err := jwt.ParseSigned(res.GetCredential().GetJwtSvid().GetJwt())
 				require.NoError(t, err)
 
diff --git a/lib/jwt/jwt.go b/lib/jwt/jwt.go
index 01ff10ba4f37c..d8ca5d61f5ef0 100644
--- a/lib/jwt/jwt.go
+++ b/lib/jwt/jwt.go
@@ -306,35 +306,46 @@ type SignParamsJWTSVID struct {
 func (k *Key) SignJWTSVID(p SignParamsJWTSVID) (string, error) {
 	// Record time here for consistency between exp and iat.
 	now := k.config.Clock.Now()
-	claims := jwt.Claims{
+
+	// We use map[string]any instead of jwt.Claims to avoid a json.Marshal/Unmarshal
+	// round-trip that would convert jwt.NumericDate (int64) to float64, causing
+	// timestamp claims to be serialized in scientific notation (e.g., "exp": 1.7e9).
+	// Using map[string]any preserves the jwt.NumericDate type until final marshaling.
+	claims := map[string]any{
 		// > 3.1. Subject:
 		// > The sub claim MUST be set to the SPIFFE ID of the workload to which it is issued.
-		Subject: p.SPIFFEID.String(),
+		"sub": p.SPIFFEID.String(),
+
 		// > 3.2. Audience:
 		// > The aud claim MUST be present, containing one or more values.
-		Audience: p.Audiences,
+		"aud": jwt.Audience(p.Audiences),
+
 		// > 3.3. Expiration Time:
 		// > The exp claim MUST be set
-		Expiry: jwt.NewNumericDate(now.Add(p.TTL)),
+		"exp": jwt.NewNumericDate(now.Add(p.TTL)),
+
 		// The spec makes no comment on inclusion of `iat`, but the SPIRE
 		// implementation does set this value and it feels like a good idea.
-		IssuedAt: jwt.NewNumericDate(now),
+		"iat": jwt.NewNumericDate(now),
+
 		// > 7.1. Replay Protection
 		// > the jti claim is permitted by this specification, it should be
 		// > noted that JWT-SVID validators are not required to track jti
 		// > uniqueness.
-		ID: p.JTI,
+		"jti": p.JTI,
+
 		// The SPIFFE specification makes no comment on the inclusion of `iss`,
 		// however, we provide this value so that the issued token can be a
 		// valid OIDC ID token and used with non-SPIFFE aware systems that do
 		// understand OIDC.
-		Issuer: p.Issuer,
+		"iss": p.Issuer,
 	}
+
 	if !p.SetIssuedAt.IsZero() {
-		claims.IssuedAt = jwt.NewNumericDate(p.SetIssuedAt)
+		claims["iat"] = jwt.NewNumericDate(p.SetIssuedAt)
 	}
 	if !p.SetExpiry.IsZero() {
-		claims.Expiry = jwt.NewNumericDate(p.SetExpiry)
+		claims["exp"] = jwt.NewNumericDate(p.SetExpiry)
 	}
 
 	// > 2.2. Key ID:
@@ -361,30 +372,17 @@ func (k *Key) SignJWTSVID(p SignParamsJWTSVID) (string, error) {
 	//
 	// > Registered claims not described in this document, in addition to
 	// > private claims, MAY be used as implementers see fit.
-	var rawClaims any = claims
 	if len(p.PrivateClaims) != 0 {
-		// This is slightly awkward. We take a round-trip through json.Marshal
-		// and json.Unmarshal to get a version of the claims we can add to.
-		marshaled, err := json.Marshal(rawClaims)
-		if err != nil {
-			return "", trace.Wrap(err, "marshaling claims")
-		}
-		var unmarshaled map[string]any
-		if err := json.Unmarshal(marshaled, &unmarshaled); err != nil {
-			return "", trace.Wrap(err, "unmarshaling claims")
-		}
-
 		// Only inject claims that don't conflict with an existing primary claim
 		// such as sub or aud.
 		for k, v := range p.PrivateClaims {
-			if _, ok := unmarshaled[k]; !ok {
-				unmarshaled[k] = v
+			if _, ok := claims[k]; !ok {
+				claims[k] = v
 			}
 		}
-		rawClaims = unmarshaled
 	}
 
-	return k.sign(rawClaims, opts)
+	return k.sign(claims, opts)
 }
 
 // SignEntraOIDC signs a JWT for the Entra ID Integration.