diff --git a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-aiohttp-client/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/aiohttp_client/__init__.py b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-aiohttp-client/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/aiohttp_client/__init__.py
index a134f090fd..58cc6b042c 100644
--- a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-aiohttp-client/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/aiohttp_client/__init__.py
+++ b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-aiohttp-client/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/aiohttp_client/__init__.py
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ def instrumented_init(wrapped, instance, args, kwargs):
         if context_api.get_value(_SUPPRESS_INSTRUMENTATION_KEY):
             return wrapped(*args, **kwargs)
 
-        client_trace_configs = list(kwargs.get("trace_configs", ()))
+        client_trace_configs = list(kwargs["trace_configs"] or [])
         client_trace_configs.extend(trace_configs)
 
         trace_config = create_trace_config(