diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index d7fba4d03e7b589733c5c9b265ec6f36bf653ab1..9e2cfd676aafbc480a475553b2054f33fdc4672e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "semantic-router"
-version = "0.0.51"
+version = "0.0.52"
 description = "Super fast semantic router for AI decision making"
 authors = [
     "James Briggs <james@aurelio.ai>",
diff --git a/semantic_router/index/base.py b/semantic_router/index/base.py
index 9e226da7e6e61799758bc8e876998e5b04dcb9ab..76388d1dd7dfcdde1d5630324f82361a1341936b 100644
--- a/semantic_router/index/base.py
+++ b/semantic_router/index/base.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ class BaseIndex(BaseModel):
     utterances: Optional[np.ndarray] = None
     dimensions: Union[int, None] = None
     type: str = "base"
+    init_async_index: bool = False
     sync: Union[str, None] = None
 
     def add(
diff --git a/semantic_router/index/pinecone.py b/semantic_router/index/pinecone.py
index a9c93ccdc3e1ad24dcf85489491c8b2eeadc8ac4..fdd873206085821be4b3c4b45f85447cb0162c23 100644
--- a/semantic_router/index/pinecone.py
+++ b/semantic_router/index/pinecone.py
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ class PineconeIndex(BaseIndex):
         namespace: Optional[str] = "",
         base_url: Optional[str] = "https://api.pinecone.io",
         sync: str = "local",
+        init_async_index: bool = False,
     ):
         super().__init__()
         self.index_name = index_name
@@ -84,7 +85,10 @@ class PineconeIndex(BaseIndex):
             raise ValueError("Pinecone API key is required.")
 
         self.client = self._initialize_client(api_key=self.api_key)
-        self.async_client = self._initialize_async_client(api_key=self.api_key)
+        if init_async_index:
+            self.async_client = self._initialize_async_client(api_key=self.api_key)
+        else:
+            self.async_client = None
 
     def _initialize_client(self, api_key: Optional[str] = None):
         try: