diff --git a/daft/udf.py b/daft/udf.py
index 846e49fe14..ab1410ec3a 100644
--- a/daft/udf.py
+++ b/daft/udf.py
@@ -269,7 +269,10 @@ def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs) -> Expression:
         # Validate that initialization arguments are provided if the __init__ signature indicates that there are
         # parameters without defaults
         init_sig = inspect.signature(self.cls.__init__)  # type: ignore
-        if any(param.default is param.empty for param in init_sig.parameters.values()) and self.init_args is None:
+        if (
+            any(param.default is param.empty for param in init_sig.parameters.values() if param.name != "self")
+            and self.init_args is None
+        ):
             raise ValueError(
                 "Cannot call StatefulUDF without initialization arguments. Please either specify default arguments in your __init__ or provide "
                 "initialization arguments using `.with_init_args(...)`."
@@ -290,6 +293,13 @@ def with_init_args(self, *args, **kwargs) -> StatefulUDF:
         """Replace initialization arguments for the UDF when calling __init__ at runtime
         on each instance of the UDF.
         """
+        init_sig = inspect.signature(self.cls.__init__)  # type: ignore
+        init_sig.bind(
+            # Placeholder for `self`
+            None,
+            *args,
+            **kwargs,
+        )
         return dataclasses.replace(self, init_args=(args, kwargs))
 
     def bind_func(self, *args, **kwargs) -> inspect.BoundArguments:
diff --git a/tests/expressions/test_udf.py b/tests/expressions/test_udf.py
index d14399f93b..2bd1f12d9b 100644
--- a/tests/expressions/test_udf.py
+++ b/tests/expressions/test_udf.py
@@ -97,6 +97,19 @@ def __call__(self, data):
     assert result.to_pydict() == {"a": ["foofoo", "barbar", "bazbaz"]}
 
 
+def test_class_udf_init_args_bad_args():
+    @udf(return_dtype=DataType.string())
+    class RepeatN:
+        def __init__(self, initial_n):
+            self.n = initial_n
+
+        def __call__(self, data):
+            return Series.from_pylist([d.as_py() * self.n for d in data.to_arrow()])
+
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="missing a required argument: 'initial_n'"):
+        RepeatN.with_init_args(wrong=5)
+
+
 def test_udf_kwargs():
     table = MicroPartition.from_pydict({"a": ["foo", "bar", "baz"]})