diff --git a/common/component/kafka/auth_test.go b/common/component/kafka/auth_test.go
index 41afc5f634..10c0bc1a15 100644
--- a/common/component/kafka/auth_test.go
+++ b/common/component/kafka/auth_test.go
@@ -18,14 +18,20 @@ import (
 	"crypto/rsa"
 	"crypto/x509"
 	"crypto/x509/pkix"
+	"encoding/base64"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"encoding/pem"
 	"fmt"
 	"math/big"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/IBM/sarama"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"golang.org/x/oauth2"
 )
 
 func getAuthBaseMetadata() map[string]string {
@@ -122,4 +128,53 @@ func TestAuth(t *testing.T) {
 		require.False(t, mockConfig.Net.TLS.Enable)
 		require.Nil(t, mockConfig.Net.TLS.Config)
 	})
+
+	t.Run("oidc private key jwt uses flattened audience", func(t *testing.T) {
+		key, err := rsa.GenerateKey(rand.Reader, 2048)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		keyPEM := pem.EncodeToMemory(&pem.Block{
+			Type:  "RSA PRIVATE KEY",
+			Bytes: x509.MarshalPKCS1PrivateKey(key),
+		})
+		certPEM, _, err := createTestCert()
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		var receivedAssertion string
+
+		server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			require.NoError(t, r.ParseForm())
+			receivedAssertion = r.FormValue("client_assertion")
+
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]interface{}{
+				"access_token": "test-token",
+				"expires_in":   3600,
+			})
+		}))
+		defer server.Close()
+
+		ts := &OAuthTokenSourcePrivateKeyJWT{
+			TokenEndpoint:       oauth2.Endpoint{TokenURL: server.URL},
+			ClientID:            "test-client",
+			ClientAssertionCert: string(certPEM),
+			ClientAssertionKey:  string(keyPEM),
+		}
+
+		_, err = ts.Token()
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotEmpty(t, receivedAssertion)
+
+		parts := strings.Split(receivedAssertion, ".")
+		require.Len(t, parts, 3, "JWT should have 3 parts")
+
+		decodedPayload, err := base64.RawURLEncoding.DecodeString(parts[1])
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		var rawClaims map[string]interface{}
+		err = json.Unmarshal(decodedPayload, &rawClaims)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		audValue := rawClaims["aud"]
+		require.IsType(t, "", audValue)
+	})
 }
diff --git a/common/component/kafka/sasl_oauthbearer_private_key_jwt.go b/common/component/kafka/sasl_oauthbearer_private_key_jwt.go
index f7480c30d0..1c3cd4091e 100644
--- a/common/component/kafka/sasl_oauthbearer_private_key_jwt.go
+++ b/common/component/kafka/sasl_oauthbearer_private_key_jwt.go
@@ -169,6 +169,9 @@ func (ts *OAuthTokenSourcePrivateKeyJWT) Token() (*sarama.AccessToken, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to build token: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	// Some IdPs require the audience to be set as a single string
+	token.Options().Enable(jwt.FlattenAudience)
+
 	var signOptions []jwt.Option
 	if ts.Kid != "" {
 		headers := jws.NewHeaders()