diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2ed20569b..ae007c43c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ Unreleased changes are available as `avenga/couper:edge` container.
 * **Fixed**
   * build-date configuration for binary and docker builds ([#396](https://github.com/avenga/couper/pull/396))
   * exclude file descriptor limit startup-logs for Windows ([#396](https://github.com/avenga/couper/pull/396), [#383](https://github.com/avenga/couper/pull/383))
+  * possible race conditions while updating JWKS for the [JWT access control](./docs/REFERENCE.md#jwt-block) ([#398](https://github.com/avenga/couper/pull/398))
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/accesscontrol/jwks.go b/accesscontrol/jwks.go
index 6d5429b09..b35df9151 100644
--- a/accesscontrol/jwks.go
+++ b/accesscontrol/jwks.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/avenga/couper/config/reader"
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ type JWKS struct {
 	uri       string
 	transport http.RoundTripper
 	ttl       time.Duration
+	mtx       sync.RWMutex
 }
 
 func NewJWKS(uri string, ttl string, transport http.RoundTripper, confContext context.Context) (*JWKS, error) {
@@ -49,15 +51,23 @@ func NewJWKS(uri string, ttl string, transport http.RoundTripper, confContext co
 }
 
 func (j *JWKS) GetKeys(kid string) ([]JWK, error) {
-	var keys []JWK
-
-	if len(j.Keys) == 0 || j.hasExpired() {
-		if err := j.Load(); err != nil {
+	var (
+		keys []JWK
+		err  error
+	)
+
+	j.mtx.RLock()
+	allKeys := j.Keys
+	expired := j.hasExpired()
+	j.mtx.RUnlock()
+	if len(allKeys) == 0 || expired {
+		allKeys, err = j.Load()
+		if err != nil {
 			return keys, fmt.Errorf("error loading JWKS: %v", err)
 		}
 	}
 
-	for _, key := range j.Keys {
+	for _, key := range allKeys {
 		if key.KeyID == kid {
 			keys = append(keys, key)
 		}
@@ -79,19 +89,19 @@ func (j *JWKS) GetKey(kid string, alg string, use string) (*JWK, error) {
 	return nil, nil
 }
 
-func (j *JWKS) Load() error {
+func (j *JWKS) Load() ([]JWK, error) {
 	var rawJSON []byte
 
 	if j.file != "" {
 		j, err := reader.ReadFromFile("jwks_url", j.file)
 		if err != nil {
-			return err
+			return nil, err
 		}
 		rawJSON = j
 	} else if j.transport != nil {
 		req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "", nil)
 		if err != nil {
-			return err
+			return nil, err
 		}
 		ctx := context.WithValue(j.context, request.URLAttribute, j.uri)
 		// TODO which roundtrip name?
@@ -99,33 +109,36 @@ func (j *JWKS) Load() error {
 		req = req.WithContext(ctx)
 		response, err := j.transport.RoundTrip(req)
 		if err != nil {
-			return err
+			return nil, err
 		}
 		if response.StatusCode != 200 {
-			return fmt.Errorf("status code %d", response.StatusCode)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("status code %d", response.StatusCode)
 		}
 
 		defer response.Body.Close()
 
 		body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(response.Body)
 		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("error reading JWKS response for %q: %v", j.uri, err)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading JWKS response for %q: %v", j.uri, err)
 		}
 		rawJSON = body
 	} else {
-		return fmt.Errorf("jwks: missing both file and request")
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("jwks: missing both file and request")
 	}
 
 	var jwks JWKS
 	err := json.Unmarshal(rawJSON, &jwks)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	j.mtx.Lock()
+	defer j.mtx.Unlock()
+
 	j.Keys = jwks.Keys
 	j.expiry = time.Now().Unix() + int64(j.ttl.Seconds())
 
-	return nil
+	return j.Keys, nil
 }
 
 func (jwks *JWKS) hasExpired() bool {
diff --git a/accesscontrol/jwks_test.go b/accesscontrol/jwks_test.go
index bdc97ea46..8aa94a728 100644
--- a/accesscontrol/jwks_test.go
+++ b/accesscontrol/jwks_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package accesscontrol_test
 
 import (
+	"sync"
 	"testing"
 
 	ac "github.com/avenga/couper/accesscontrol"
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ func Test_JWKS_Load(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(subT *testing.T) {
 			jwks, err := ac.NewJWKS("file:"+tt.file, "", nil, nil)
 			helper.Must(err)
-			err = jwks.Load()
+			_, err = jwks.Load()
 			if err != nil && tt.expParsed {
 				subT.Error("no jwks parsed")
 			}
@@ -91,7 +92,7 @@ func Test_JWKS_GetKey(t *testing.T) {
 			helper := test.New(subT)
 			jwks, err := ac.NewJWKS("file:"+tt.file, "", nil, nil)
 			helper.Must(err)
-			err = jwks.Load()
+			_, err = jwks.Load()
 			helper.Must(err)
 			jwk, err := jwks.GetKey(tt.kid, tt.alg, tt.use)
 			if jwk == nil && tt.expFound {
@@ -103,3 +104,25 @@ func Test_JWKS_GetKey(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func Test_JWKS_LoadSynced(t *testing.T) {
+	helper := test.New(t)
+
+	memQuitCh := make(chan struct{})
+	defer close(memQuitCh)
+
+	jwks, err := ac.NewJWKS("file:testdata/jwks.json", "", nil, nil)
+	helper.Must(err)
+
+	wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
+	wg.Add(10)
+	for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
+		go func(idx int) {
+			defer wg.Done()
+
+			_, e := jwks.GetKeys("kid1")
+			helper.Must(e)
+		}(i)
+	}
+	wg.Wait()
+}