diff --git a/.changeset/plain-needles-travel.md b/.changeset/plain-needles-travel.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99598a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/plain-needles-travel.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"create-better-t-stack": patch
+---
+
+fix incorrect helper usage
diff --git a/apps/cli/templates/frontend/react/tanstack-start/src/routes/__root.tsx.hbs b/apps/cli/templates/frontend/react/tanstack-start/src/routes/__root.tsx.hbs
index 89240ea..ad3f84d 100644
--- a/apps/cli/templates/frontend/react/tanstack-start/src/routes/__root.tsx.hbs
+++ b/apps/cli/templates/frontend/react/tanstack-start/src/routes/__root.tsx.hbs
@@ -12,9 +12,13 @@ import {
 import { TanStackRouterDevtools } from "@tanstack/react-router-devtools";
 import Header from "../components/header";
 import appCss from "../index.css?url";
-{{#unless (and (eq api "none") (not (eq backend "convex"))}}
+{{#if (eq backend "convex")}}
 import type { QueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
-{{/unless}}
+{{else}}
+  {{#unless (eq api "none")}}
+import type { QueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
+  {{/unless}}
+{{/if}}
 import Loader from "@/components/loader";
 
 {{#if (eq backend "convex")}}