diff --git a/python/python/lance/torch/data.py b/python/python/lance/torch/data.py
index fd2be0da161..d5adcbbfe19 100644
--- a/python/python/lance/torch/data.py
+++ b/python/python/lance/torch/data.py
@@ -11,7 +11,16 @@
 import math
 import warnings
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, Iterable, List, Literal, Optional, Union
+from typing import (
+    Any,
+    Dict,
+    Iterable,
+    List,
+    Literal,
+    Optional,
+    Protocol,
+    Union,
+)
 
 import pyarrow as pa
 
@@ -32,6 +41,17 @@
 __all__ = ["LanceDataset", "SafeLanceDataset", "get_safe_loader"]
 
 
+class ToTensorFn(Protocol):
+    def __call__(
+        self,
+        batch: Union[pa.RecordBatch, Dict[str, Any]],
+        *,
+        hf_converter: Optional[dict] = None,
+        use_blob_api: bool = False,
+        **kwargs: Any,
+    ) -> Union[dict[str, torch.Tensor], torch.Tensor]: ...
+
+
 # Convert an Arrow FSL array into a 2D torch tensor
 def _fsl_to_tensor(arr: pa.FixedSizeListArray, dimension: int) -> torch.Tensor:
     # Note: FixedSizeListArray.values does not take offset/len into account and
@@ -192,9 +212,7 @@ def __init__(
         world_size: Optional[int] = None,
         shard_granularity: Optional[Literal["fragment", "batch"]] = None,
         batch_readahead: int = 16,
-        to_tensor_fn: Optional[
-            Callable[[pa.RecordBatch], Union[dict[str, torch.Tensor], torch.Tensor]]
-        ] = _to_tensor,
+        to_tensor_fn: Optional[ToTensorFn] = _to_tensor,
         sampler: Optional[Sampler] = None,
         auto_detect_rank: bool = True,
         **kwargs,
@@ -236,6 +254,9 @@ def __init__(
             A function that samples the dataset.
         to_tensor_fn : callable, optional
             A function that converts a pyarrow RecordBatch to torch.Tensor.
+            Should accept a batch (RecordBatch or Dict[str, pa.Array]) as the first
+            argument, plus optional keyword arguments ``hf_converter`` and
+            ``use_blob_api``.
         auto_detect_rank: bool = True, optional
             If set true, the rank and world_size will be detected automatically.
         """