diff --git a/.changeset/fix-retain-strip-explicit-defaults.md b/.changeset/fix-retain-strip-explicit-defaults.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7089be5d2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fix-retain-strip-explicit-defaults.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@tanstack/router-core': patch
+---
+
+Fix retained search params overriding explicit default-valued navigations when used with `stripSearchParams`.
diff --git a/packages/router-core/src/route.ts b/packages/router-core/src/route.ts
index 7d94a2ebac..2de7dc57f0 100644
--- a/packages/router-core/src/route.ts
+++ b/packages/router-core/src/route.ts
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ export type SearchMiddlewareMeta = {
   removed?: Map<string, unknown>
   removedAny?: Set<string>
   defaulted?: Map<string, unknown>
+  explicit?: unknown
 }
 
 export type SearchMiddlewareContext<TSearchSchema> = {
diff --git a/packages/router-core/src/router.ts b/packages/router-core/src/router.ts
index a438dbc626..5e3f1d675e 100644
--- a/packages/router-core/src/router.ts
+++ b/packages/router-core/src/router.ts
@@ -3194,7 +3194,11 @@ function buildMiddlewareChain(destRoutes: ReadonlyArray<AnyRoute>) {
       if (dest.search === true) {
         return currentSearch
       }
-      return functionalUpdate(dest.search, currentSearch)
+      const result = functionalUpdate(dest.search, currentSearch)
+      if (meta) {
+        meta.explicit = result
+      }
+      return result
     }
 
     const next = (newSearch: any, collectMeta?: true): any => {
diff --git a/packages/router-core/src/searchMiddleware.ts b/packages/router-core/src/searchMiddleware.ts
index 27ff86af8d..a78732d833 100644
--- a/packages/router-core/src/searchMiddleware.ts
+++ b/packages/router-core/src/searchMiddleware.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { deepEqual } from './utils'
+import { deepEqual, hasOwn } from './utils'
 import type { NoInfer, PickOptional } from './utils'
 import type {
   SearchMiddleware,
@@ -33,8 +33,12 @@ export function retainSearchParams<TSearchSchema extends object>(
     if (keys === true) {
       const copy = { ...search, ...resultSearch }
       const removed = meta.removed
+      const explicit = meta.explicit
       for (const key of removed?.keys() || []) {
-        if (deepEqual(search[key as keyof TSearchSchema], removed!.get(key))) {
+        if (
+          (explicit && hasOwn.call(explicit, key)) ||
+          deepEqual(search[key as keyof TSearchSchema], removed!.get(key))
+        ) {
           delete copy[key as keyof TSearchSchema]
         }
       }
@@ -47,7 +51,11 @@ export function retainSearchParams<TSearchSchema extends object>(
           !meta.removedAny?.has(key) &&
           !(
             meta.removed?.has(key) &&
-            deepEqual(search[key as keyof TSearchSchema], meta.removed.get(key))
+            ((explicit && hasOwn.call(explicit, key)) ||
+              deepEqual(
+                search[key as keyof TSearchSchema],
+                meta.removed.get(key),
+              ))
           )
         ) {
           copy[key as keyof TSearchSchema] = search[key as keyof TSearchSchema]
@@ -57,13 +65,15 @@ export function retainSearchParams<TSearchSchema extends object>(
     }
 
     const copy = { ...resultSearch }
+    const explicit = meta.explicit
     // add missing keys from search to copy
     for (const key of keys) {
       const stringKey = key as string
       const removed =
         meta.removedAny?.has(stringKey) ||
         (meta.removed?.has(stringKey) &&
-          deepEqual(search[key], meta.removed.get(stringKey)))
+          ((explicit && hasOwn.call(explicit, stringKey)) ||
+            deepEqual(search[key], meta.removed.get(stringKey))))
       if (
         !removed &&
         (!(key in copy) ||
diff --git a/packages/router-core/src/utils.ts b/packages/router-core/src/utils.ts
index 0c72c76c18..f017215b5c 100644
--- a/packages/router-core/src/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/router-core/src/utils.ts
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ export function functionalUpdate<TPrevious, TResult = TPrevious>(
   return updater
 }
 
-const hasOwn = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty
+export const hasOwn = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty
 const isEnumerable = Object.prototype.propertyIsEnumerable
 
 export function hasKeys(obj: Record<string, unknown>) {
diff --git a/packages/router-core/tests/build-location.test.ts b/packages/router-core/tests/build-location.test.ts
index 862f473cac..131fccf095 100644
--- a/packages/router-core/tests/build-location.test.ts
+++ b/packages/router-core/tests/build-location.test.ts
@@ -323,6 +323,81 @@ describe('buildLocation - search params', () => {
     expect(location.search).toEqual({ param1: 10 })
   })
 
+  test('retainSearchParams should allow explicit default params to reset current params when stripSearchParams removes them', async () => {
+    const defaults = {
+      param1: 1,
+      param2: 2,
+    }
+    const rootRoute = new BaseRootRoute({})
+    const indexRoute = new BaseRoute({
+      getParentRoute: () => rootRoute,
+      path: '/',
+      validateSearch: (search: Record<string, unknown>) => ({
+        param1: search.param1 === undefined ? defaults.param1 : search.param1,
+        param2: search.param2 === undefined ? defaults.param2 : search.param2,
+      }),
+      search: {
+        middlewares: [
+          retainSearchParams(['param1', 'param2']),
+          stripSearchParams(defaults),
+        ],
+      },
+    })
+
+    const routeTree = rootRoute.addChildren([indexRoute])
+
+    const router = createTestRouter({
+      routeTree,
+      history: createMemoryHistory({ initialEntries: ['/?param1=10'] }),
+    })
+
+    await router.load()
+
+    const location = router.buildLocation({
+      to: '/',
+      search: defaults,
+      _includeValidateSearch: true,
+    } as any)
+
+    expect(location.search).toEqual({})
+  })
+
+  test('retainSearchParams(true) should allow explicit default params to reset current params when stripSearchParams removes them', async () => {
+    const defaults = {
+      param1: 1,
+      param2: 2,
+    }
+    const rootRoute = new BaseRootRoute({})
+    const indexRoute = new BaseRoute({
+      getParentRoute: () => rootRoute,
+      path: '/',
+      validateSearch: (search: Record<string, unknown>) => ({
+        param1: search.param1 === undefined ? defaults.param1 : search.param1,
+        param2: search.param2 === undefined ? defaults.param2 : search.param2,
+      }),
+      search: {
+        middlewares: [retainSearchParams(true), stripSearchParams(defaults)],
+      },
+    })
+
+    const routeTree = rootRoute.addChildren([indexRoute])
+
+    const router = createTestRouter({
+      routeTree,
+      history: createMemoryHistory({ initialEntries: ['/?param1=10'] }),
+    })
+
+    await router.load()
+
+    const location = router.buildLocation({
+      to: '/',
+      search: defaults,
+      _includeValidateSearch: true,
+    } as any)
+
+    expect(location.search).toEqual({})
+  })
+
   test('retainSearchParams should not restore params explicitly removed by stripSearchParams', async () => {
     const rootRoute = new BaseRootRoute({})
     const indexRoute = new BaseRoute({