diff --git a/torchtune/data/_utils.py b/torchtune/data/_utils.py
index bea507991d..3da5e57848 100644
--- a/torchtune/data/_utils.py
+++ b/torchtune/data/_utils.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 from datasets import load_dataset
 from datasets.distributed import split_dataset_by_node
 
-from torch.utils.data import DistributedSampler
+from torch.utils.data import default_collate, DistributedSampler
 
 from torchtune.data._torchdata import DatasetType, Loader, requires_torchdata
 from torchtune.modules.transforms import Transform
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ def get_dataloader(
     dataset: DatasetType,
     model_transform: Transform,
     batch_size: int,
-    collate_fn: Callable[[Any], Any],
+    collate_fn: Optional[Callable[[Any], Any]] = None,
     packed: bool = False,
     drop_last: bool = True,
     num_workers: int = 0,
@@ -302,6 +302,9 @@ def get_dataloader(
 
     from torchdata.nodes import Batcher, ParallelMapper, PinMemory, Prefetcher
 
+    if collate_fn is None:
+        collate_fn = default_collate
+
     node = ParallelMapper(
         dataset, map_fn=model_transform, num_workers=num_workers, method=parallel_method
     )