diff --git a/auth/imap.go b/auth/imap.go
index 8db8c3f..0b8c4d3 100644
--- a/auth/imap.go
+++ b/auth/imap.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package auth
 
 import (
-	"context"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
 
@@ -59,7 +58,7 @@ func (prov *IMAPProvider) doAuth(next http.Handler,
 		AuthMethod: "imap",
 		UserName:   user,
 	}
-	ctx := context.WithValue(r.Context(), AuthCtxKey, &authCtx)
+	ctx := NewContext(r.Context(), &authCtx)
 	r = r.WithContext(ctx)
 	next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
 }
diff --git a/auth/interface.go b/auth/interface.go
index e2d1931..99ad722 100644
--- a/auth/interface.go
+++ b/auth/interface.go
@@ -1,14 +1,13 @@
 package auth
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"net/http"
 )
 
-var AuthCtxKey = &contextKey{"auth"}
+type contextKey string
 
-type contextKey struct {
-	name string
-}
+var authCtxKey contextKey = "auth"
 
 type AuthContext struct {
 	AuthMethod string
@@ -16,6 +15,15 @@ type AuthContext struct {
 	// TODO more?
 }
 
+func NewContext(ctx context.Context, a *AuthContext) context.Context {
+	return context.WithValue(ctx, authCtxKey, a)
+}
+
+func FromContext(ctx context.Context) (*AuthContext, bool) {
+	a, ok := ctx.Value(authCtxKey).(*AuthContext)
+	return a, ok
+}
+
 // Abstracts the authentication backend for the server.
 type AuthProvider interface {
 	// Returns HTTP middleware for performing authentication.
diff --git a/storage/filesystem.go b/storage/filesystem.go
index e37a210..52a4974 100644
--- a/storage/filesystem.go
+++ b/storage/filesystem.go
@@ -37,14 +37,14 @@ func NewFilesystem(path string) (carddav.Backend, error) {
 }
 
 func (b *filesystemBackend) pathForContext(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
-	raw := ctx.Value(auth.AuthCtxKey)
-	if raw == nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("unauthenticated requests are not supported")
-	}
-	authCtx, ok := raw.(*auth.AuthContext)
+	authCtx, ok := auth.FromContext(ctx)
 	if !ok {
 		panic("Invalid data in auth context!")
 	}
+	if authCtx == nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("unauthenticated requests are not supported")
+	}
+
 	userDir := base64.RawStdEncoding.EncodeToString([]byte(authCtx.UserName))
 	path := filepath.Join(b.path, userDir)