diff --git a/nodejs/__test__/package.test.ts b/nodejs/__test__/package.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7743d73d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nodejs/__test__/package.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright The LanceDB Authors
+
+import packageJson = require("../package.json");
+
+describe("package metadata", () => {
+  it("requires Node.js type declarations compatible with the runtime", () => {
+    expect(packageJson.engines.node).toBe(">= 18");
+    expect(packageJson.peerDependencies["@types/node"]).toBe(">=18");
+    expect(packageJson.peerDependenciesMeta["@types/node"]).toEqual({
+      optional: true,
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/nodejs/package-lock.json b/nodejs/package-lock.json
index 8e30b0fab..bdbd3cf79 100644
--- a/nodejs/package-lock.json
+++ b/nodejs/package-lock.json
@@ -55,7 +55,13 @@
         "openai": "4.29.2"
       },
       "peerDependencies": {
+        "@types/node": ">=18",
         "apache-arrow": ">=15.0.0 <=18.1.0"
+      },
+      "peerDependenciesMeta": {
+        "@types/node": {
+          "optional": true
+        }
       }
     },
     "node_modules/@aws-crypto/crc32": {
diff --git a/nodejs/package.json b/nodejs/package.json
index f3f719af2..671f3f94d 100644
--- a/nodejs/package.json
+++ b/nodejs/package.json
@@ -101,6 +101,12 @@
     "openai": "4.29.2"
   },
   "peerDependencies": {
+    "@types/node": ">=18",
     "apache-arrow": ">=15.0.0 <=18.1.0"
+  },
+  "peerDependenciesMeta": {
+    "@types/node": {
+      "optional": true
+    }
   }
 }