diff --git a/google/config.go b/google/config.go
index e4693787531..d43f0d15527 100644
--- a/google/config.go
+++ b/google/config.go
@@ -359,11 +359,19 @@ func (c *Config) LoadAndValidate(ctx context.Context) error {
 
 	cleanCtx := context.WithValue(ctx, oauth2.HTTPClient, cleanhttp.DefaultClient())
 
-	// 1. MTLS TRANSPORT/CLIENT - sets up proper auth headers
-	client, _, err := transport.NewHTTPClient(cleanCtx, option.WithTokenSource(tokenSource))
+	// 0. ClientOption setup for HTTP client
+	clientOpts := []option.ClientOption{
+		// Set up authorization headers
+		option.WithTokenSource(tokenSource),
+	}
+
+	// 1. MTLS TRANSPORT/CLIENT
+	client, _, err := transport.NewHTTPClient(cleanCtx, clientOpts...)
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
 	// Userinfo is fetched before request logging is enabled to reduce additional noise.
 	err = c.logGoogleIdentities()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -381,7 +389,7 @@ func (c *Config) LoadAndValidate(ctx context.Context) error {
 
 	// 4. Header Transport - outer wrapper to inject additional headers we want to apply
 	// before making requests
-	headerTransport := newTransportWithHeaders(retryTransport)
+	headerTransport := newTransportWithHeaders(retryTransport, c)
 
 	// Set final transport value.
 	client.Transport = headerTransport
diff --git a/google/header_transport.go b/google/header_transport.go
index c372bedaa4e..3fbe23182f0 100644
--- a/google/header_transport.go
+++ b/google/header_transport.go
@@ -11,16 +11,23 @@ type headerTransportLayer struct {
 	baseTransit http.RoundTripper
 }
 
-func newTransportWithHeaders(baseTransit http.RoundTripper) headerTransportLayer {
+func newTransportWithHeaders(baseTransit http.RoundTripper, c *Config) headerTransportLayer {
 	if baseTransit == nil {
 		baseTransit = http.DefaultTransport
 	}
 
 	headers := make(http.Header)
+
 	if requestReason := os.Getenv("CLOUDSDK_CORE_REQUEST_REASON"); requestReason != "" {
 		headers.Set("X-Goog-Request-Reason", requestReason)
 	}
 
+	// Ensure $userProject is set for all HTTP requests using the client if specified by the provider config
+	// See https://cloud.google.com/apis/docs/system-parameters
+	if c.UserProjectOverride && c.BillingProject != "" {
+		headers.Set("X-Goog-User-Project", c.BillingProject)
+	}
+
 	return headerTransportLayer{Header: headers, baseTransit: baseTransit}
 }