diff --git a/.changeset/breezy-pillows-marry.md b/.changeset/breezy-pillows-marry.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ec65ef03adb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/breezy-pillows-marry.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@clerk/tanstack-react-start": patch
+---
+
+Make `clerkClient()` options parameter optional
diff --git a/packages/tanstack-react-start/src/server/clerkClient.ts b/packages/tanstack-react-start/src/server/clerkClient.ts
index e28b603ccac..e8398f5af26 100644
--- a/packages/tanstack-react-start/src/server/clerkClient.ts
+++ b/packages/tanstack-react-start/src/server/clerkClient.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
+import type { ClerkClient, ClerkOptions } from '@clerk/backend';
 import { createClerkClient } from '@clerk/backend';
 
 import { commonEnvs } from './constants';
 
-const clerkClient: typeof createClerkClient = options => {
+const clerkClient = (options?: ClerkOptions): ClerkClient => {
   const commonEnv = commonEnvs();
   return createClerkClient({
     secretKey: commonEnv.SECRET_KEY,