diff --git a/autogen/agentchat/contrib/retrieve_user_proxy_agent.py b/autogen/agentchat/contrib/retrieve_user_proxy_agent.py
index f8cc205570..8d4dbc0d50 100644
--- a/autogen/agentchat/contrib/retrieve_user_proxy_agent.py
+++ b/autogen/agentchat/contrib/retrieve_user_proxy_agent.py
@@ -253,7 +253,9 @@ class RetrieveUserProxyAgent(UserProxyAgent):
         self._task = self._retrieve_config.get("task", "default")
         self._vector_db = self._retrieve_config.get("vector_db", "chroma")
         self._db_config = self._retrieve_config.get("db_config", {})
-        self._client = self._retrieve_config.get("client", chromadb.Client())
+        self._client = self._retrieve_config.get("client", None)
+        if self._client is None:
+            self._client = chromadb.Client()
         self._docs_path = self._retrieve_config.get("docs_path", None)
         self._extra_docs = self._retrieve_config.get("extra_docs", False)
         self._new_docs = self._retrieve_config.get("new_docs", True)