diff --git a/actix-session/src/session.rs b/actix-session/src/session.rs
index bb7c395cf..3ff3ea159 100644
--- a/actix-session/src/session.rs
+++ b/actix-session/src/session.rs
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ impl Default for SessionStatus {
 struct SessionInner {
     state: HashMap<String, String>,
     status: SessionStatus,
-    session_key: SessionKey,
+    session_key: Option<SessionKey>,
 }
 
 impl Session {
@@ -108,8 +108,10 @@ impl Session {
     ///
     /// Retrieve the overall session key
     pub fn get_session_key(&self) -> secrecy::Secret<SessionKey> {
-        let key = todo!("populate key somehow");
-        secrecy::Secret::new(key)
+        todo!("either grab the key or figure out how to populate InnerSession session_key field");
+        // let key = Session::set_session(&mut self.0., self.0);
+        let key = self.0.borrow().session_key.clone(); //
+        secrecy::Secret::new(key.unwrap())
     }
     /// Get all raw key-value data from the session.
     ///
diff --git a/actix-session/src/storage/session_key.rs b/actix-session/src/storage/session_key.rs
index fa0269b26..799e8b7f3 100644
--- a/actix-session/src/storage/session_key.rs
+++ b/actix-session/src/storage/session_key.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use std::convert::TryFrom;
 
 use derive_more::{Display, From};
+use secrecy::Secret;
 
 /// A session key, the string stored in a client-side cookie to associate a user with its session
 /// state on the backend.
@@ -17,8 +18,8 @@ use derive_more::{Display, From};
 /// let session_key: Result<SessionKey, _> = key.try_into();
 /// assert!(session_key.is_err());
 /// ```
-#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Default, Clone)]
-pub struct SessionKey(pub String);
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct SessionKey(secrecy::Secret<String>);
 
 impl TryFrom<String> for SessionKey {
     type Error = InvalidSessionKeyError;
@@ -30,13 +31,13 @@ impl TryFrom<String> for SessionKey {
             )
             .into());
         }
-
-        Ok(SessionKey(val))
+        let val_secret = Secret::new(val);
+        Ok(SessionKey(val_secret))
     }
 }
 
-impl AsRef<str> for SessionKey {
-    fn as_ref(&self) -> &str {
+impl AsRef<secrecy::Secret<String>> for SessionKey {
+    fn as_ref(&self) -> &secrecy::Secret<String> {
         &self.0
     }
 }