diff --git a/.eslintrc b/.eslintrc
index ffbfebf..43ff231 100644
--- a/.eslintrc
+++ b/.eslintrc
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 {
   "extends": ["@medic", "plugin:node/recommended"],
   "env": {
-    "node": true
+    "node": true,
+    "es6": true
   },
   "parserOptions": {
-    "ecmaVersion": 2020
+    "ecmaVersion": 8
   },
   "ignorePatterns": [
     "**/node_modules/**"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 17a9563..8aa3d25 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -27,3 +27,21 @@ jobs:
       - run: echo $(docker-compose -v)
       - run: npm ci
       - run: npm run integration
+
+  basic-usage:
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        version: [ '8.x', '16.x', '18.x' ]
+
+    name: Smoke test for older node versions
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.version }}
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: ${{ matrix.version }}
+      - run: echo $(docker-compose -v)
+      - run: npm ci
+      - run: npm run integration-basic
diff --git a/.npmignore b/.npmignore
index dd4b07a..f656073 100644
--- a/.npmignore
+++ b/.npmignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 test
 .idea
 .github
-/.eslintrc
\ No newline at end of file
+/.eslintrc
+.nyc_output/
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1d56fbf..abe47a0 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -12,10 +12,11 @@
     "integration-auth": "npm run stop-couch && npm run start-couch && mocha ./test/integration/credentials*.spec.js && npm run stop-couch",
     "integration-url": "npm run stop-couch && npm run start-couch && AUTH_TYPE=url mocha ./test/integration/credentials*.spec.js && npm run stop-couch",
     "integration-session": "npm run stop-couch && npm run start-couch && mocha ./test/integration/session*.spec.js && npm run stop-couch",
-    "integration": "npm run integration-auth && npm run integration-url && npm run integration-session"
+    "integration": "npm run integration-auth && npm run integration-url && npm run integration-session",
+    "integration-basic": "npm run stop-couch && npm run start-couch && node ./test/integration/basic.spec.js"
   },
   "engines": {
-    "node": ">=16.12.0",
+    "node": ">=8.10.0",
     "npm": ">=8.3.1"
   },
   "author": "Diana Barsan",
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index 17708bc..8e85a94 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-const util = require('node:util');
+const util = require('util');
+const { URL } = require('url');
 const { Headers } = require('pouchdb-fetch');
 
 const sessionCookieName = 'AuthSession';
@@ -6,7 +7,7 @@ const cookieRegex = new RegExp(`${sessionCookieName}=(.*)`);
 const sessions = {};
 
 const parseCookie = (response) => {
-  const cookie = response?.headers?.get('set-cookie');
+  const cookie = response && response.headers && response.headers.get('set-cookie');
   if (!cookie) {
     return;
   }
@@ -35,7 +36,9 @@ const parseCookie = (response) => {
 
 const getSessionKey = (db) => {
   const sessionUrl = getSessionUrl(db);
-  return `${db.credentials?.username}:${db.credentials?.password}:${db.session}:${sessionUrl}`;
+  const username = db.credentials && db.credentials.username;
+  const password = db.credentials && db.credentials.password;
+  return `${username}:${password}:${db.session}:${sessionUrl}`;
 };
 
 const getSessionUrl = (db) => {
@@ -45,7 +48,7 @@ const getSessionUrl = (db) => {
 };
 
 const authenticate = async (db) => {
-  if (!db?.credentials?.username) {
+  if (!db || !db.credentials || !db.credentials.username) {
     return;
   }
 
@@ -101,7 +104,7 @@ const extractAuth = (opts) => {
 };
 
 const isValid = (session) => {
-  if (!session?.expires) {
+  if (!session || !session.expires) {
     return false;
   }
   const isExpired =  Date.now() > session.expires;
diff --git a/test/integration/basic.spec.js b/test/integration/basic.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b603ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/basic.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+const PouchDb = require('pouchdb-core');
+const utils = require('./utils');
+PouchDb.plugin(require('pouchdb-adapter-http'));
+PouchDb.plugin(require('../../src/index'));
+
+const dbName = 'testdb';
+
+(async () => {
+  await utils.setupCouch(dbName);
+  const db = new PouchDb(`${utils.baseUrl}/${dbName}`, { skip_setup: true, auth: utils.dbAuth });
+
+  const docs = [{ _id: '1', e: 1 }, { _id: '2', e: 2 }];
+  await db.bulkDocs(docs);
+  const allDocs = await db.allDocs();
+  if (allDocs.rows.length !== docs.length) {
+    throw new Error('Invalid number of docs');
+  }
+})();
+
diff --git a/test/integration/utils.js b/test/integration/utils.js
index faa79f9..3df7d80 100644
--- a/test/integration/utils.js
+++ b/test/integration/utils.js
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ const getDbRequest = (username, logs, dbName, path, success = true, method = 'GE
 
 const request = async (opts) => {
   const authString = `${auth.username}:${auth.password}`;
-  const token = btoa(decodeURIComponent(encodeURIComponent(authString)));
+  const token = Buffer.from(decodeURIComponent(encodeURIComponent(authString))).toString('base64');
 
   const headers = new Headers({ 'Authorization': 'Basic ' + token });
   if (opts.json) {