diff --git a/fence/jwt/keys.py b/fence/jwt/keys.py
index 6e247eaed..d08e9d5f0 100644
--- a/fence/jwt/keys.py
+++ b/fence/jwt/keys.py
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ def public_key_to_jwk(self):
             except AttributeError:
                 # there is no need to decode values that are already strings
                 pass
-        jwk_dict.update({"use": "sig", "key_ops": "verify", "kid": self.kid})
+        jwk_dict.update({"use": "sig", "key_ops": ["verify"], "kid": self.kid})
         return jwk_dict
 
 
diff --git a/tests/rfc7517/test_jwks.py b/tests/rfc7517/test_jwks.py
index 7a74025f9..29d036dec 100644
--- a/tests/rfc7517/test_jwks.py
+++ b/tests/rfc7517/test_jwks.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def test_response_values(app, client):
         assert key["alg"] == "RS256"
         assert key["kty"] == "RSA"
         assert key["use"] == "sig"
-        assert key["key_ops"] == "verify"
+        assert key["key_ops"] == ["verify"]
         assert key["kid"] in app_kids
         # Attempt to reproduce the public key from the JWK response.
         key_pem = jwk.construct(key).to_pem().decode("utf-8")