diff --git a/fsspec/implementations/gist.py b/fsspec/implementations/gist.py
index 74117b544..ad9ac0b6a 100644
--- a/fsspec/implementations/gist.py
+++ b/fsspec/implementations/gist.py
@@ -14,21 +14,21 @@ class GistFileSystem(AbstractFileSystem):
 
     Parameters
     ----------
-    gist_id : str
+    gist_id: str
         The ID of the gist you want to access (the long hex value from the URL).
-    filenames : list[str] (optional)
+    filenames: list[str] (optional)
         If provided, only make a file system representing these files, and do not fetch
         the list of all files for this gist.
-    sha : str (optional)
+    sha: str (optional)
         If provided, fetch a particular revision of the gist. If omitted,
         the latest revision is used.
-    username : str (optional)
-        GitHub username for authentication (required if token is given).
-    token : str (optional)
-        GitHub personal access token (required if username is given).
-    timeout : (float, float) or float, optional
+    username: str (optional)
+        GitHub username for authentication.
+    token: str (optional)
+        GitHub personal access token (required if username is given), or.
+    timeout: (float, float) or float, optional
         Connect and read timeouts for requests (default 60s each).
-    kwargs : dict
+    kwargs: dict
         Stored on `self.request_kw` and passed to `requests.get` when fetching Gist
         metadata or reading ("opening") a file.
     """
@@ -51,10 +51,8 @@ def __init__(
         self.gist_id = gist_id
         self.filenames = filenames
         self.sha = sha  # revision of the gist (optional)
-        if (username is None) ^ (token is None):
-            # Both or neither must be set
-            if username or token:
-                raise ValueError("Auth requires both username and token, or neither.")
+        if username is not None and token is None:
+            raise ValueError("User auth requires a token")
         self.username = username
         self.token = token
         self.request_kw = kwargs
@@ -67,9 +65,18 @@ def __init__(
     @property
     def kw(self):
         """Auth parameters passed to 'requests' if we have username/token."""
-        if self.username is not None and self.token is not None:
-            return {"auth": (self.username, self.token), **self.request_kw}
-        return self.request_kw
+        kw = {
+            "headers": {
+                "Accept": "application/vnd.github+json",
+                "X-GitHub-Api-Version": "2022-11-28",
+            }
+        }
+        kw.update(self.request_kw)
+        if self.username and self.token:
+            kw["auth"] = (self.username, self.token)
+        elif self.token:
+            kw["headers"]["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {self.token}"
+        return kw
 
     def _fetch_gist_metadata(self):
         """
@@ -229,4 +236,6 @@ def cat(self, path, recursive=False, on_error="raise", **kwargs):
                     pass  # skip
                 else:
                     out[p] = e
+        if len(paths) == 1 and paths[0] == path:
+            return out[path]
         return out
diff --git a/fsspec/implementations/tests/test_gist.py b/fsspec/implementations/tests/test_gist.py
index dbd64a7cc..6ca31a454 100644
--- a/fsspec/implementations/tests/test_gist.py
+++ b/fsspec/implementations/tests/test_gist.py
@@ -1,17 +1,18 @@
-import sys
-
 import pytest
 
 import fsspec
 from fsspec.implementations.gist import GistFileSystem
 
-if (3, 12) < sys.version_info < (3, 14):
-    pytest.skip("Too many tests bust rate limit", allow_module_level=True)
+# if sys.version_info[:2] != (3, 12):
+#    pytest.skip("Too many tests bust rate limit", allow_module_level=True)
+pytest.skip(
+    "github requires a token right now, even for public gists", allow_module_level=True
+)
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "gist_id,sha",
-    [("2656908684d3965b80c2", "2fb2f12f332f7e242b1a2af1f41e30ddf99f24c7")],
+    [("863f2f06782788e349f2acfff31d77ed", None)],
 )
 def test_gist_public_all_files(gist_id, sha):
     fs = fsspec.filesystem("gist", gist_id=gist_id, sha=sha)
@@ -29,9 +30,9 @@ def test_gist_public_all_files(gist_id, sha):
     "gist_id,sha,file",
     [
         (
-            "2656908684d3965b80c2",
-            "2fb2f12f332f7e242b1a2af1f41e30ddf99f24c7",
-            "distributed_error_logs_PY3_7-3-2016",
+            "863f2f06782788e349f2acfff31d77ed",
+            None,
+            "ex1.ipynb",
         )
     ],
 )
@@ -51,8 +52,8 @@ def test_gist_public_one_file(gist_id, sha, file):
     "gist_id,sha,file",
     [
         (
-            "2656908684d3965b80c2",
-            "2fb2f12f332f7e242b1a2af1f41e30ddf99f24c7",
+            "863f2f06782788e349f2acfff31d77ed",
+            None,
             "file-that-doesnt-exist.py",
         )
     ],
diff --git a/fsspec/implementations/tests/test_github.py b/fsspec/implementations/tests/test_github.py
index 15bde1da0..800f1a3f0 100644
--- a/fsspec/implementations/tests/test_github.py
+++ b/fsspec/implementations/tests/test_github.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 import fsspec
 
-if (3, 11) < sys.version_info < (3, 13):
+if sys.version_info[:2] != (3, 13):
     pytest.skip("Too many tests bust rate limit", allow_module_level=True)