diff --git a/.changeset/moody-knives-accept.md b/.changeset/moody-knives-accept.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e301479b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/moody-knives-accept.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@hey-api/openapi-ts': patch
+---
+
+fix: update types for custom plugins so defineConfig does not throw
diff --git a/packages/openapi-ts/src/index.ts b/packages/openapi-ts/src/index.ts
index cf8ae8215..b55a454e0 100644
--- a/packages/openapi-ts/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/openapi-ts/src/index.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { parseExperimental, parseLegacy } from './openApi';
 import type { ClientPlugins, UserPlugins } from './plugins';
 import { defaultPluginConfigs } from './plugins';
 import type {
+  AnyPluginName,
   DefaultPluginConfigs,
   PluginContext,
   PluginNames,
@@ -190,14 +191,14 @@ const getPluginsConfig = ({
   userPluginsConfig,
 }: {
   pluginConfigs: DefaultPluginConfigs<ClientPlugins>;
-  userPlugins: ReadonlyArray<PluginNames>;
+  userPlugins: ReadonlyArray<AnyPluginName>;
   userPluginsConfig: Config['plugins'];
 }): Pick<Config, 'plugins' | 'pluginOrder'> => {
-  const circularReferenceTracker = new Set<PluginNames>();
-  const pluginOrder = new Set<PluginNames>();
+  const circularReferenceTracker = new Set<AnyPluginName>();
+  const pluginOrder = new Set<AnyPluginName>();
   const plugins: Config['plugins'] = {};
 
-  const dfs = (name: PluginNames) => {
+  const dfs = (name: AnyPluginName) => {
     if (circularReferenceTracker.has(name)) {
       throw new Error(`Circular reference detected at '${name}'`);
     }
@@ -205,15 +206,15 @@ const getPluginsConfig = ({
     if (!pluginOrder.has(name)) {
       circularReferenceTracker.add(name);
 
-      const pluginConfig = pluginConfigs[name];
+      const pluginConfig = pluginConfigs[name as PluginNames];
       if (!pluginConfig) {
         throw new Error(
           `🚫 unknown plugin dependency "${name}" - do you need to register a custom plugin with this name?`,
         );
       }
 
-      const defaultOptions = defaultPluginConfigs[name];
-      const userOptions = userPluginsConfig[name];
+      const defaultOptions = defaultPluginConfigs[name as PluginNames];
+      const userOptions = userPluginsConfig[name as PluginNames];
       if (userOptions && defaultOptions) {
         const nativePluginOption = Object.keys(userOptions).find((key) =>
           key.startsWith('_'),
@@ -243,7 +244,8 @@ const getPluginsConfig = ({
           },
           pluginByTag: (tag) => {
             for (const userPlugin of userPlugins) {
-              const defaultConfig = defaultPluginConfigs[userPlugin];
+              const defaultConfig =
+                defaultPluginConfigs[userPlugin as PluginNames];
               if (
                 defaultConfig &&
                 defaultConfig._tags?.includes(tag) &&
@@ -274,7 +276,7 @@ const getPluginsConfig = ({
   }
 
   return {
-    pluginOrder: Array.from(pluginOrder),
+    pluginOrder: Array.from(pluginOrder) as ReadonlyArray<PluginNames>,
     plugins,
   };
 };
diff --git a/packages/openapi-ts/src/plugins/types.d.ts b/packages/openapi-ts/src/plugins/types.d.ts
index 20a26accf..6b4b316de 100644
--- a/packages/openapi-ts/src/plugins/types.d.ts
+++ b/packages/openapi-ts/src/plugins/types.d.ts
@@ -20,11 +20,14 @@ export type PluginNames =
   | 'fastify'
   | 'zod';
 
+// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/ban-types
+export type AnyPluginName = PluginNames | (string & {});
+
 type PluginTag = 'transformer' | 'validator';
 
 export interface PluginContext {
   ensureDependency: (name: PluginNames | true) => void;
-  pluginByTag: (tag: PluginTag) => PluginNames | undefined;
+  pluginByTag: (tag: PluginTag) => AnyPluginName | undefined;
 }
 
 interface BaseConfig {
@@ -35,8 +38,7 @@ interface BaseConfig {
    * barrel file?
    */
   exportFromIndex?: boolean;
-  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/ban-types
-  name: PluginNames | (string & {});
+  name: AnyPluginName;
   output?: string;
 }
 
@@ -45,7 +47,7 @@ interface Meta<Config extends BaseConfig> {
    * Dependency plugins will be always processed, regardless of whether user
    * explicitly defines them in their `plugins` config.
    */
-  _dependencies?: ReadonlyArray<PluginNames>;
+  _dependencies?: ReadonlyArray<AnyPluginName>;
   /**
    * Allows overriding config before it's sent to the parser. An example is
    * defining `validator` as `true` and the plugin figures out which plugin
@@ -83,7 +85,15 @@ export namespace Plugin {
 
   export type DefineConfig<Config extends BaseConfig> = (
     config?: Plugin.UserConfig<Config>,
-  ) => Plugin.Config<Config>;
+  ) => Omit<Plugin.Config<Config>, 'name'> & {
+    /**
+     * Cast name to `any` so it doesn't throw type error in `plugins` array.
+     * We could allow any `string` as plugin `name` in the object syntax, but
+     * that TypeScript trick would cause all string methods to appear as
+     * suggested auto completions, which is undesirable.
+     */
+    name: any;
+  };
 
   /**
    * Plugin implementation for experimental parser.
diff --git a/packages/openapi-ts/test/plugins.test.ts b/packages/openapi-ts/test/plugins.test.ts
index b04ecc073..62230e31e 100644
--- a/packages/openapi-ts/test/plugins.test.ts
+++ b/packages/openapi-ts/test/plugins.test.ts
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ for (const version of versions) {
     it('handles a custom plugin', async () => {
       const myPlugin: Plugin.Config<{
         customOption: boolean;
-        name: string;
+        name: any;
         output: string;
       }> = {
         _dependencies: ['@hey-api/typescript'],
@@ -260,7 +260,6 @@ for (const version of versions) {
         experimentalParser: true,
         input: path.join(__dirname, 'spec', '3.1.x', 'full.json'),
         output: path.join(outputDir, myPlugin.name, 'default'),
-        // @ts-expect-error
         plugins: [myPlugin],
       });
 
@@ -270,10 +269,9 @@ for (const version of versions) {
 
     it('throws on invalid dependency', async () => {
       const myPlugin: Plugin.Config<{
-        name: string;
+        name: any;
         output: string;
       }> = {
-        // @ts-expect-error
         _dependencies: ['@hey-api/oops'],
         _handler: vi.fn(),
         _handlerLegacy: vi.fn(),
@@ -290,7 +288,6 @@ for (const version of versions) {
             level: 'silent',
           },
           output: path.join(outputDir, myPlugin.name, 'default'),
-          // @ts-expect-error
           plugins: [myPlugin],
         }),
       ).rejects.toThrowError(/unknown plugin/g);
@@ -301,7 +298,7 @@ for (const version of versions) {
 
     it('throws on native plugin override', async () => {
       const myPlugin: Plugin.Config<{
-        name: string;
+        name: any;
         output: string;
       }> = {
         _handler: vi.fn(),
@@ -319,7 +316,6 @@ for (const version of versions) {
             level: 'silent',
           },
           output: path.join(outputDir, myPlugin.name, 'default'),
-          // @ts-expect-error
           plugins: [myPlugin],
         }),
       ).rejects.toThrowError(/cannot register plugin/g);