diff --git a/.nextchanges/cli/auth-token-unauthenticated.md b/.nextchanges/cli/auth-token-unauthenticated.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d51c60c2639
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.nextchanges/cli/auth-token-unauthenticated.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+* Return `UNAUTHENTICATED` instead of `INVALID_REFRESH_TOKEN` when `databricks auth token --output json` cannot refresh a cached U2M token. ([#6731](https://github.com/databricks/cli/pull/6731))
diff --git a/acceptance/cmd/auth/token/force-refresh-invalid-refresh-token/output.txt b/acceptance/cmd/auth/token/force-refresh-invalid-refresh-token/output.txt
index 250f9863bfe..d975fe88448 100644
--- a/acceptance/cmd/auth/token/force-refresh-invalid-refresh-token/output.txt
+++ b/acceptance/cmd/auth/token/force-refresh-invalid-refresh-token/output.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Error: A new access token could not be retrieved because the refresh token is invalid. To reauthenticate, run the following command:
   $ databricks auth login --profile test-profile
 {
-  "error_code": "INVALID_REFRESH_TOKEN",
+  "error_code": "UNAUTHENTICATED",
   "message": "A new access token could not be retrieved because the refresh token is invalid. To reauthenticate, run the following command:\n  $ databricks auth login --profile test-profile"
 }
diff --git a/cmd/auth/token.go b/cmd/auth/token.go
index 09d8c2dabfe..7bf710de575 100644
--- a/cmd/auth/token.go
+++ b/cmd/auth/token.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"golang.org/x/oauth2"
 )
 
-const invalidRefreshTokenErrorCode = "INVALID_REFRESH_TOKEN"
+const unauthenticatedErrorCode = "UNAUTHENTICATED"
 
 type tokenErrorOutput struct {
 	ErrorCode string `json:"error_code"`
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ func writeTokenErrorOutput(w io.Writer, err error) error {
 	encoder := json.NewEncoder(w)
 	encoder.SetIndent("", "  ")
 	return encoder.Encode(tokenErrorOutput{
-		ErrorCode: invalidRefreshTokenErrorCode,
+		ErrorCode: unauthenticatedErrorCode,
 		Message:   err.Error(),
 	})
 }
diff --git a/cmd/auth/token_test.go b/cmd/auth/token_test.go
index 18022d8ff5d..e37e7cdc01b 100644
--- a/cmd/auth/token_test.go
+++ b/cmd/auth/token_test.go
@@ -962,6 +962,6 @@ func TestWriteTokenErrorOutput(t *testing.T) {
 
 	var got tokenErrorOutput
 	assert.NoError(t, json.Unmarshal(buf.Bytes(), &got))
-	assert.Equal(t, invalidRefreshTokenErrorCode, got.ErrorCode)
+	assert.Equal(t, unauthenticatedErrorCode, got.ErrorCode)
 	assert.Equal(t, "refresh token is invalid", got.Message)
 }