diff --git a/.changeset/lovely-roses-dance.md b/.changeset/lovely-roses-dance.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b9ca100c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/lovely-roses-dance.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+'thebe-react': minor
+'thebe-lite': minor
+'demo-simple': minor
+---
+
+Clients no longer have to explicitly supply `litePluginSettings` unless they explicitly want to override them. This simplifies upgrades as clients should just bump packages, and the correct plugin settings for the bundled pyodide kernel will be applied by default.
diff --git a/apps/simple/static/index.html b/apps/simple/static/index.html
index 1b5bd344..cf7460bc 100644
--- a/apps/simple/static/index.html
+++ b/apps/simple/static/index.html
@@ -19,18 +19,6 @@
         }
       }
     </script>
-    <script id="jupyter-config-data" type="application/json">
-      {
-        "litePluginSettings": {
-          "@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel-extension:kernel": {
-            "pipliteUrls": ["https://unpkg.com/@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel@0.4.7/pypi/all.json"],
-            "pipliteWheelUrl": "https://unpkg.com/@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel@0.4.7/pypi/piplite-0.4.7-py3-none-any.whl"
-          }
-        },
-        "enableMemoryStorage": true,
-        "settingsStorageDrivers": ["memoryStorageDriver"]
-      }
-    </script>
     <!-- this following is the thebe entrypoint script -->
     <script src="thebe-lite.min.js"></script>
     <script src="index.js"></script>
diff --git a/apps/simple/static/ipywidgets-lite.html b/apps/simple/static/ipywidgets-lite.html
index ce0db549..576ab90f 100644
--- a/apps/simple/static/ipywidgets-lite.html
+++ b/apps/simple/static/ipywidgets-lite.html
@@ -11,18 +11,6 @@
         useBinder: false
       }
     </script>
-    <script id="jupyter-config-data" type="application/json">
-      {
-        "litePluginSettings": {
-          "@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel-extension:kernel": {
-            "pipliteUrls": ["https://unpkg.com/@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel@0.4.7/pypi/all.json"],
-            "pipliteWheelUrl": "https://unpkg.com/@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel@0.4.7/pypi/piplite-0.4.7-py3-none-any.whl"
-          }
-        },
-        "enableMemoryStorage": true,
-        "settingsStorageDrivers": ["memoryStorageDriver"]
-      }
-    </script>
     <link
       rel="stylesheet"
       href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/4.7.0/css/font-awesome.min.css"
diff --git a/apps/simple/static/lite.html b/apps/simple/static/lite.html
index d06a4d7c..315b9958 100644
--- a/apps/simple/static/lite.html
+++ b/apps/simple/static/lite.html
@@ -11,18 +11,6 @@
         useBinder: false
       }
     </script>
-    <script id="jupyter-config-data" type="application/json">
-      {
-        "litePluginSettings": {
-          "@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel-extension:kernel": {
-            "pipliteUrls": ["https://unpkg.com/@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel@0.4.7/pypi/all.json"],
-            "pipliteWheelUrl": "https://unpkg.com/@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel@0.4.7/pypi/piplite-0.4.7-py3-none-any.whl"
-          }
-        },
-        "enableMemoryStorage": true,
-        "settingsStorageDrivers": ["memoryStorageDriver"]
-      }
-    </script>
     <link
       rel="stylesheet"
       href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/4.7.0/css/font-awesome.min.css"
diff --git a/packages/lite/src/jlite.ts b/packages/lite/src/jlite.ts
index df3db8c0..152d4d63 100644
--- a/packages/lite/src/jlite.ts
+++ b/packages/lite/src/jlite.ts
@@ -44,9 +44,29 @@ export async function startJupyterLiteServer(config?: LiteServerConfig): Promise
    * Do not rely on a configuration being on the document body, accept configuration via arguments
    * and set options on the page config directly
    */
-  if (config?.litePluginSettings) {
-    PageConfig.setOption('litePluginSettings', JSON.stringify(config.litePluginSettings));
-  }
+  const defaultLiteConfig = {
+    litePluginSettings: {
+      '@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel-extension:kernel': {
+        pipliteUrls: ['https://unpkg.com/@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel@0.4.7/pypi/all.json'],
+        pipliteWheelUrl:
+          'https://unpkg.com/@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel@0.4.7/pypi/piplite-0.4.7-py3-none-any.whl',
+      },
+    },
+    enableMemoryStorage: true,
+    settingsStorageDrivers: ['memoryStorageDriver'],
+  };
+  PageConfig.setOption(
+    'litePluginSettings',
+    JSON.stringify({ ...defaultLiteConfig.litePluginSettings, ...config?.litePluginSettings }),
+  );
+  PageConfig.setOption(
+    'enableMemoryStorage',
+    JSON.stringify(config?.enableMemoryStorage ?? defaultLiteConfig.enableMemoryStorage),
+  );
+  PageConfig.setOption(
+    'settingsStorageDrivers',
+    JSON.stringify(config?.settingsStorageDrivers ?? defaultLiteConfig.settingsStorageDrivers),
+  );
 
   /**
    * Seems like there are 4 different extensions we may want to handle
diff --git a/packages/lite/src/types.ts b/packages/lite/src/types.ts
index ff6d3ab5..2e7676fe 100644
--- a/packages/lite/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/lite/src/types.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ import type { ServiceManager } from '@jupyterlab/services';
  */
 
 export type LiteServerConfig = {
-  litePluginSettings: Record<string, any>;
+  litePluginSettings?: Record<string, any>;
+  enableMemoryStorage?: boolean;
+  settingsStorageDrivers?: string[];
 };
 
 export interface ThebeLiteGlobal {
diff --git a/packages/react/src/ThebeServerProvider.tsx b/packages/react/src/ThebeServerProvider.tsx
index 16601924..4d5480e4 100644
--- a/packages/react/src/ThebeServerProvider.tsx
+++ b/packages/react/src/ThebeServerProvider.tsx
@@ -89,16 +89,7 @@ export function ThebeServerProvider({
     setConnecting(true);
     if (customConnectFn) customConnectFn(server);
     else if (useBinder) server.connectToServerViaBinder(customRepoProviders);
-    else if (useJupyterLite)
-      server.connectToJupyterLiteServer({
-        litePluginSettings: {
-          '@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel-extension:kernel': {
-            pipliteUrls: ['https://unpkg.com/@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel@0.4.7/pypi/all.json'],
-            pipliteWheelUrl:
-              'https://unpkg.com/@jupyterlite/pyodide-kernel@0.4.7/pypi/piplite-0.4.7-py3-none-any.whl',
-          },
-        },
-      });
+    else if (useJupyterLite) server.connectToJupyterLiteServer();
     else server.connectToJupyterServer();
 
     server.ready.then(