diff --git a/paws.common/DESCRIPTION b/paws.common/DESCRIPTION
index dd4c127db..aef1315a2 100644
--- a/paws.common/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/paws.common/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Package: paws.common
 Type: Package
 Title: Paws Low-Level Amazon Web Services API
-Version: 0.7.6
+Version: 0.7.6.9000
 Authors@R: c(
         person("David", "Kretch", email = "david.kretch@gmail.com", role = "aut"),
         person("Adam", "Banker", email = "adam.banker39@gmail.com", role = "aut"),
diff --git a/paws.common/NEWS.md b/paws.common/NEWS.md
index c0e35b8f3..72c3ed56b 100644
--- a/paws.common/NEWS.md
+++ b/paws.common/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+# paws.common 0.7.7
+* fix unix time expiration check
+* remove redundant caching method
+* ensure all calls has paws user-agent string attached
+
 # paws.common 0.7.6
 * fix `handle_copy_source_param` encoding redirected calls.
 * fix `handle_copy_source_param` removing attributes
diff --git a/paws.common/R/cache.R b/paws.common/R/cache.R
index 35e427628..8c3bca28c 100644
--- a/paws.common/R/cache.R
+++ b/paws.common/R/cache.R
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@ ini_cache <- new.env(parent = emptyenv())
 
 os_env_cache <- new.env(parent = emptyenv())
 
-cred_refresh_cache <- new.env(parent = emptyenv())
-
 set_os_env_cache <- function() {
   env_vars <- system("printenv", intern = TRUE)
 
diff --git a/paws.common/R/config.R b/paws.common/R/config.R
index 0c526e371..6ee3fcb48 100644
--- a/paws.common/R/config.R
+++ b/paws.common/R/config.R
@@ -203,7 +203,6 @@ get_instance_metadata <- function(query_path = "") {
     timeout = 1,
     header = c("X-aws-ec2-metadata-token-ttl-seconds" = token_ttl)
   )
-
   metadata_token_response <- tryCatch(
     {
       issue(metadata_token_request)
@@ -229,7 +228,11 @@ get_instance_metadata <- function(query_path = "") {
       header = c("X-aws-ec2-metadata-token" = token)
     )
   } else {
-    metadata_request <- new_http_request("GET", metadata_url, timeout = 1)
+    metadata_request <- new_http_request(
+      "GET",
+      metadata_url,
+      timeout = 1
+    )
   }
   metadata_response <- tryCatch(
     {
diff --git a/paws.common/R/credential_providers.R b/paws.common/R/credential_providers.R
index a453c6f1b..46e99b811 100644
--- a/paws.common/R/credential_providers.R
+++ b/paws.common/R/credential_providers.R
@@ -240,10 +240,6 @@ sso_credential_process <- function(sso_session,
                                    sso_account_id,
                                    sso_region,
                                    sso_role_name) {
-  if (!check_if_cred_needs_refresh(sso_role_name)) {
-    return(cred_refresh_cache[[sso_role_name]])
-  }
-
   input_str <- sso_session %||% sso_start_url
   cache_key <- digest::digest(enc2utf8(input_str), algo = "sha1", serialize = FALSE)
   json_file <- paste0(cache_key, ".json")
@@ -283,29 +279,12 @@ sso_credential_process <- function(sso_session,
     return(NULL)
   }
 
-  creds <- Creds(
+  return(Creds(
     access_key_id = resp$roleCredentials$accessKeyId,
     secret_access_key = resp$roleCredentials$secretAccessKey,
     session_token = resp$roleCredentials$sessionToken,
     expiration = resp$roleCredentials$expiration
-  )
-  cred_refresh_cache[[sso_role_name]] <- creds
-  return(cred_refresh_cache[[sso_role_name]])
-}
-
-check_if_cred_needs_refresh <- function(sso_role_name) {
-  if (!is.null(cred <- cred_refresh_cache[[sso_role_name]])) {
-    if (!length(expire <- cred$expiration)) {
-      return(TRUE)
-    }
-    if (is.infinite(expire)) {
-      return(TRUE)
-    }
-    expiration <- expire / 1000
-    now <- as.numeric(Sys.time())
-    return(now > expiration)
-  }
-  return(TRUE)
+  ))
 }
 
 # Get STS temporary credentials for the role with ARN `role_arn` using
@@ -391,7 +370,6 @@ get_assume_role_with_web_identity_creds <- function(role_arn, role_session_name,
 container_credentials_provider <- function() {
   # Initialize to NULL
   credentials_response <- NULL
-
   container_credentials_uri <- get_env("AWS_CONTAINER_CREDENTIALS_RELATIVE_URI")
   container_credentials_full_uri <- get_env("AWS_CONTAINER_CREDENTIALS_FULL_URI")
   container_credentials_token <- get_env("AWS_WEB_IDENTITY_TOKEN_FILE")
@@ -460,45 +438,44 @@ get_container_credentials <- function(credentials_uri, credentials_full_uri) {
   credentials_response_body <-
     jsonlite::fromJSON(raw_to_utf8(metadata_response$body))
 
-  credentials_list <- list(
-    access_key_id = credentials_response_body$AccessKeyId,
-    secret_access_key = credentials_response_body$SecretAccessKey,
-    session_token = credentials_response_body$Token,
-    expiration = as_timestamp(credentials_response_body$Expiration, "iso8601")
+  return(
+    list(
+      access_key_id = credentials_response_body$AccessKeyId,
+      secret_access_key = credentials_response_body$SecretAccessKey,
+      session_token = credentials_response_body$Token,
+      expiration = as_timestamp(credentials_response_body$Expiration, "iso8601")
+    )
   )
-
-  return(credentials_list)
 }
 
 # Developed from:
 # https://github.com/boto/botocore/blob/ba7da3497853ac83e9b8552f41de83cb27932fe9/botocore/credentials.py#L1945-L1955C22
 set_container_credentails_headers <- function() {
-  auth_token <- NULL
+  auth_token <- list()
   ENV_VAR_AUTH_TOKEN <- get_env("AWS_CONTAINER_AUTHORIZATION_TOKEN")
   ENV_VAR_AUTH_TOKEN_FILE <- get_env("AWS_CONTAINER_AUTHORIZATION_TOKEN_FILE")
   if (ENV_VAR_AUTH_TOKEN_FILE != "") {
-    auth_token <- readLines("token_file", encoding = "utf-8", warn = FALSE)
+    auth_token[["Authorization"]] <- readLines(ENV_VAR_AUTH_TOKEN_FILE, encoding = "utf-8", warn = FALSE)
   } else if (ENV_VAR_AUTH_TOKEN != "") {
-    auth_token <- ENV_VAR_AUTH_TOKEN
+    auth_token[["Authorization"]] <- ENV_VAR_AUTH_TOKEN
   }
   # validate auth token
-  if (!is.null(auth_token)) {
-    if (grepl("\r|\n", auth_token)) {
+  if (!is.null(auth_token[["Authorization"]])) {
+    if (grepl("\r|\n", auth_token[["Authorization"]])) {
       stop("Auth token value is not a legal header value")
     }
-    names(auth_token) <- "Authorization"
   }
   return(auth_token)
 }
 
 get_container_credentials_eks <- function() {
-  credentials_list <- get_assume_role_with_web_identity_creds(
-    role_arn = get_role_arn(),
-    role_session_name = get_role_session_name(),
-    web_identity_token = get_web_identity_token()
+  return(
+    get_assume_role_with_web_identity_creds(
+      role_arn = get_role_arn(),
+      role_session_name = get_role_session_name(),
+      web_identity_token = get_web_identity_token()
+    )
   )
-
-  return(credentials_list)
 }
 
 # Retrieve credentials for EC2 IAM Role
diff --git a/paws.common/R/credentials.R b/paws.common/R/credentials.R
index 2371e34ea..ccfd0aa40 100644
--- a/paws.common/R/credentials.R
+++ b/paws.common/R/credentials.R
@@ -69,8 +69,15 @@ is_credentials_provided <- function(creds, window = 5 * 60) {
   if (is.null(creds$secret_access_key) || creds$secret_access_key == "") {
     return(FALSE)
   }
-  if (length(creds$expiration) == 1 && is.finite(creds$expiration) && Sys.time() > creds$expiration - window) {
+  if (check_if_cred_needs_refresh(creds, window)) {
     return(FALSE)
   }
   return(TRUE)
 }
+
+check_if_cred_needs_refresh <- function(creds, window) {
+  if (is.numeric(expire <- creds$expiration)) {
+    expire <- expire / 1000
+  }
+  return(length(expire) == 1 && is.finite(expire) && Sys.time() > expire - window)
+}
diff --git a/paws.common/R/handlers_core.R b/paws.common/R/handlers_core.R
index a9931d356..19f03b933 100644
--- a/paws.common/R/handlers_core.R
+++ b/paws.common/R/handlers_core.R
@@ -2,17 +2,6 @@
 
 #' @include util.R
 
-# Add the name/version to the User-Agent request header.
-sdk_version_user_agent_handler <- function(request) {
-  paws_version <- .__NAMESPACE__.[["spec"]]["version"] %||% packageVersion("paws.common")
-  user_agent <- sprintf(
-    "paws/%s (R%s; %s; %s)",
-    paws_version, getRversion(), R.version$os, R.version$arch
-  )
-  request$http_request$header["User-Agent"] <- user_agent
-  return(request)
-}
-
 # Add the execution environment to the User-Agent request header.
 # TODO: Implement.
 add_host_exec_env_user_agent_handler <- function(request) {
diff --git a/paws.common/R/net.R b/paws.common/R/net.R
index 82d0423a8..aec6625dd 100644
--- a/paws.common/R/net.R
+++ b/paws.common/R/net.R
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ new_http_request <- function(method, url, body = NULL, close = FALSE, connect_ti
   if (!valid_method(method)) {
     stopf("invalid method: %s", method)
   }
+  header["User-Agent"] <- PAWS_USER_AGENT
   u <- parse_url(url)
   req <- HttpRequest(
     method = method,
diff --git a/paws.common/R/onLoad.R b/paws.common/R/onLoad.R
index d943055d7..5257562a4 100644
--- a/paws.common/R/onLoad.R
+++ b/paws.common/R/onLoad.R
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 .onLoad <- function(libname, pkgname) {
   init_log_config()
   init_log_styles()
+  set_user_agent(pkgname)
 
   # Cache UNIX OS environment variables
   if (.Platform$OS.type == "unix") {
diff --git a/paws.common/R/service.R b/paws.common/R/service.R
index c95e5f0ca..4636a3e3a 100644
--- a/paws.common/R/service.R
+++ b/paws.common/R/service.R
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ new_handlers <- function(protocol, signer) {
       validate_parameters_handler
     ),
     build = HandlerList(
-      sdk_version_user_agent_handler,
       add_host_exec_env_user_agent_handler,
       handler(protocol, "build")
     ),
diff --git a/paws.common/R/util.R b/paws.common/R/util.R
index fe28699eb..8e244e97a 100644
--- a/paws.common/R/util.R
+++ b/paws.common/R/util.R
@@ -242,3 +242,12 @@ parse_in_half <- function(x, char = "=") {
     substr(x, right_start, right_end)
   )
 }
+
+set_user_agent <- function(pkgname) {
+  paws_version <- .__NAMESPACE__.[["spec"]]["version"] %||% packageVersion(pkgname)
+  user_agent <- sprintf(
+    "paws/%s (R%s; %s; %s)",
+    paws_version, getRversion(), R.version$os, R.version$arch
+  )
+  assign("PAWS_USER_AGENT", user_agent, envir = getNamespace(pkgname))
+}
diff --git a/paws.common/tests/testthat/test_credential_providers.R b/paws.common/tests/testthat/test_credential_providers.R
index 79464ce67..19bc64111 100644
--- a/paws.common/tests/testthat/test_credential_providers.R
+++ b/paws.common/tests/testthat/test_credential_providers.R
@@ -124,24 +124,3 @@ test_that("config_file_provider", {
     ))
   })
 })
-
-test_that("check if refreshed credentials need refreshing", {
-  rm(list = names(cred_refresh_cache), envir = cred_refresh_cache)
-  # if profile not found: true
-  expect_true(check_if_cred_needs_refresh("profile"))
-
-  # old time: true
-  time <- as.numeric(Sys.time()) * 1000 - 1000
-  cred_refresh_cache$profile <- list(expiration = time)
-  expect_true(check_if_cred_needs_refresh("profile"))
-
-  # unexpected expiration: true
-  time <- integer()
-  cred_refresh_cache$profile <- list(expiration = time)
-  expect_true(check_if_cred_needs_refresh("profile"))
-
-  # future time: false
-  time <- as.numeric(Sys.time()) * 1000 + 10000
-  cred_refresh_cache$profile <- list(expiration = time)
-  expect_false(check_if_cred_needs_refresh("profile"))
-})
diff --git a/paws.common/tests/testthat/test_credentials.R b/paws.common/tests/testthat/test_credentials.R
index 503235fca..14331e588 100644
--- a/paws.common/tests/testthat/test_credentials.R
+++ b/paws.common/tests/testthat/test_credentials.R
@@ -35,14 +35,30 @@ test_that("credentials not provided", {
 })
 
 test_that("credentials expired", {
-  creds <- Creds(
+  creds <- paws.common:::Creds(
+    access_key_id = "foo",
+    secret_access_key = "bar",
+    expiration = 1000
+  )
+
+  expect_false(is_credentials_provided(creds))
+
+  creds <- paws.common:::Creds(
     access_key_id = "foo",
     secret_access_key = "bar",
-    expiration = 0
+    expiration = Sys.time() - 5*60
   )
 
   expect_false(is_credentials_provided(creds))
 
+  creds <- Creds(
+    access_key_id = "foo",
+    secret_access_key = "bar",
+    expiration = Sys.time() + 30*60
+  )
+
+  expect_true(is_credentials_provided(creds))
+
   creds <- Creds(
     access_key_id = "foo",
     secret_access_key = "bar",
diff --git a/paws.common/tests/testthat/test_handlers_core.R b/paws.common/tests/testthat/test_handlers_core.R
index 30f32f453..24296faac 100644
--- a/paws.common/tests/testthat/test_handlers_core.R
+++ b/paws.common/tests/testthat/test_handlers_core.R
@@ -71,13 +71,14 @@ expect_user_agent <- function(request) {
     "paws/%s (R%s; %s; %s)",
     paws_version, r_version, r_os, r_arch
   )
-  request$http_request$header["User-Agent"] <- user_agent
-  return(request)
+  return(user_agent)
 }
 
 test_that("check if user agent string is built correctly", {
-  request <- list(http_request = list(header = list()))
-  actual <- sdk_version_user_agent_handler(request)
-  expected <- expect_user_agent(request)
+  mock_assign <- mock2()
+  mockery::stub(set_user_agent, "assign", mock_assign)
+  set_user_agent("paws.common")
+  expected <- expect_user_agent()
+  actual <- mockery::mock_args(mock_assign)[[1]][[2]]
   expect_equal(actual, expected)
 })