diff --git a/python/python/lancedb/remote/table.py b/python/python/lancedb/remote/table.py
index c6a0078b..85b7e789 100644
--- a/python/python/lancedb/remote/table.py
+++ b/python/python/lancedb/remote/table.py
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ class RemoteTable(Table):
         num_sub_vectors: Optional[int] = None,
         replace: Optional[bool] = None,
         accelerator: Optional[str] = None,
+        index_type="vector",
     ):
         """Create an index on the table.
         Currently, the only parameters that matter are
@@ -166,7 +167,6 @@ class RemoteTable(Table):
                 "replace is not supported on LanceDB cloud."
                 "Existing indexes will always be replaced."
             )
-        index_type = "vector"
 
         data = {
             "column": vector_column_name,
diff --git a/python/python/lancedb/table.py b/python/python/lancedb/table.py
index b08c9de5..61a8f7e8 100644
--- a/python/python/lancedb/table.py
+++ b/python/python/lancedb/table.py
@@ -1173,11 +1173,12 @@ class LanceTable(Table):
         replace: bool = True,
         accelerator: Optional[str] = None,
         index_cache_size: Optional[int] = None,
+        index_type="IVF_PQ",
     ):
         """Create an index on the table."""
         self._dataset_mut.create_index(
             column=vector_column_name,
-            index_type="IVF_PQ",
+            index_type=index_type,
             metric=metric,
             num_partitions=num_partitions,
             num_sub_vectors=num_sub_vectors,