diff --git a/.github/actions/init-blacksmith/action.yml b/.github/actions/init-blacksmith/action.yml
index 9f8c4d624ed..fba1064209c 100644
--- a/.github/actions/init-blacksmith/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/init-blacksmith/action.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ inputs:
   node-version:
     description: 'The node version to use'
     required: false
-    default: '24.15.0'
+    default: '22'
   playwright-enabled:
     description: 'Enable Playwright?'
     required: false
diff --git a/.github/actions/init/action.yml b/.github/actions/init/action.yml
index ec2a7d7c88b..849c5ca0255 100644
--- a/.github/actions/init/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/init/action.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ inputs:
   node-version:
     description: 'The node version to use'
     required: false
-    default: '24.15.0'
+    default: '22'
   playwright-enabled:
     description: 'Enable Playwright?'
     required: false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 504ea00eb45..c3bf58f0b9d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -218,10 +218,7 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         include:
-          - node-version: 24.15.0
-            test-filter: "**"
-            filter-label: "**"
-          - node-version: 20.19.0
+          - node-version: 22
             test-filter: "**"
             filter-label: "**"
 
@@ -260,7 +257,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run Typedoc tests
         run: |
           # Only run Typedoc tests for one matrix version and main test run
-          if [ "${{ matrix.node-version }}" == "24.15.0" ] && [ "${{ matrix.test-filter }}" = "**" ]; then
+          if [ "${{ matrix.node-version }}" == "22" ] && [ "${{ matrix.test-filter }}" = "**" ]; then
             pnpm turbo run //#test:typedoc
           fi
         env:
@@ -504,7 +501,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: ./.github/actions/init-blacksmith
         with:
           turbo-enabled: true
-          node-version: 24.15.0
+          node-version: 22
           turbo-signature: ${{ secrets.TURBO_REMOTE_CACHE_SIGNATURE_KEY }}
           turbo-summarize: ${{ env.TURBO_SUMMARIZE }}
           turbo-team: ${{ vars.TURBO_TEAM }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 1e8dddbde9a..4e802db8b7d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -524,7 +524,7 @@ jobs:
 
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        version: [24] # NOTE: 20 is cached in the main release workflow
+        version: [22] # NOTE: 18 is cached in the main release workflow
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Repo
diff --git a/.nvmrc b/.nvmrc
index 5bf4400f229..7af24b7ddbd 100644
--- a/.nvmrc
+++ b/.nvmrc
@@ -1 +1 @@
-24.15.0
+22.11.0
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5c5159220c4..f218a3e18b8 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@
   },
   "packageManager": "pnpm@10.33.0+sha512.10568bb4a6afb58c9eb3630da90cc9516417abebd3fabbe6739f0ae795728da1491e9db5a544c76ad8eb7570f5c4bb3d6c637b2cb41bfdcdb47fa823c8649319",
   "engines": {
-    "node": ">=24.15.0",
+    "node": ">=22.11.0",
     "pnpm": ">=10.33.0"
   },
   "pnpm": {
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/__tests__/proxy.test.ts b/packages/backend/src/__tests__/proxy.test.ts
index 661be0053e6..c8ad63192e5 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/__tests__/proxy.test.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/__tests__/proxy.test.ts
@@ -572,11 +572,7 @@ describe('proxy', () => {
       expect(response.status).toBe(200);
     });
 
-    it('omits signal from upstream fetch (Node 24 undici cross-realm AbortSignal)', async () => {
-      // Node 24's bundled undici tightened the instanceof AbortSignal check on
-      // RequestInit.signal, which throws on cross-realm signals carried by
-      // framework Request subclasses. Until we bridge abort propagation via an
-      // in-realm AbortController, the signal is intentionally omitted.
+    it('propagates abort signal to upstream fetch', async () => {
       const mockResponse = new Response(JSON.stringify({}), { status: 200 });
       mockFetch.mockResolvedValue(mockResponse);
 
@@ -591,7 +587,7 @@ describe('proxy', () => {
       });
 
       const [, options] = mockFetch.mock.calls[0];
-      expect(options.signal).toBeUndefined();
+      expect(options.signal).toBe(request.signal);
     });
 
     it('includes Cache-Control: no-store on error responses', async () => {
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/proxy.ts b/packages/backend/src/proxy.ts
index bf2e25789b2..e11babd8028 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/proxy.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/proxy.ts
@@ -297,15 +297,12 @@ export async function clerkFrontendApiProxy(request: Request, options?: Frontend
 
   try {
     // Make the proxied request
-    // TODO: Restore abort cascade via an in-realm AbortController bridge,
-    // and consider adding AbortSignal.timeout(30_000) via AbortSignal.any().
-    // `request.signal` is intentionally omitted: Node 24's bundled undici
-    // tightened the instanceof AbortSignal check on RequestInit.signal, which
-    // rejects cross-realm signals carried by framework Request subclasses.
+    // TODO: Consider adding AbortSignal.timeout(30_000) via AbortSignal.any()
     const fetchOptions: RequestInit = {
       method: request.method,
       headers,
       redirect: 'manual',
+      signal: request.signal,
     };
 
     // Only set duplex when body is present (required for streaming bodies)
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/tokens/clerkRequest.ts b/packages/backend/src/tokens/clerkRequest.ts
index 7dc0380bb51..89ab5e6bc6d 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/tokens/clerkRequest.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/tokens/clerkRequest.ts
@@ -26,25 +26,7 @@ class ClerkRequest extends Request {
     // https://github.com/nodejs/undici/issues/2155
     // https://github.com/nodejs/undici/blob/7153a1c78d51840bbe16576ce353e481c3934701/lib/fetch/request.js#L854
     const url = typeof input !== 'string' && 'url' in input ? input.url : String(input);
-    // When cloning a Request by passing it as init, hide its `signal`. Undici's
-    // Request constructor in Node 24 performs a strict instanceof check on the
-    // signal and rejects ones from a different realm (e.g. NextRequest). Using a
-    // Proxy keeps property access lazy so environments that don't implement
-    // optional getters (e.g. Cloudflare Workers' Request lacks `cache`) still work.
-    let cloneInit: RequestInit | undefined;
-    if (init) {
-      cloneInit = init;
-    } else if (typeof input !== 'string') {
-      cloneInit = new Proxy(input as Request, {
-        get(target, prop) {
-          if (prop === 'signal') {
-            return undefined;
-          }
-          return Reflect.get(target, prop, target);
-        },
-      }) as unknown as RequestInit;
-    }
-    super(url, cloneInit);
+    super(url, init || typeof input === 'string' ? undefined : input);
     this.clerkUrl = this.deriveUrlFromHeaders(this);
     this.cookies = this.parseCookies(this);
   }
diff --git a/packages/react-router/src/server/utils.ts b/packages/react-router/src/server/utils.ts
index c55d8a635ef..b33f147205a 100644
--- a/packages/react-router/src/server/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/react-router/src/server/utils.ts
@@ -135,14 +135,12 @@ export const wrapWithClerkState = (data: any) => {
  * @internal
  */
 export const patchRequest = (request: Request) => {
-  // Omit `signal` from the clone: Node 24's bundled undici tightened the
-  // instanceof AbortSignal check, which rejects cross-realm signals (e.g.
-  // those carried by framework Request subclasses).
   const clonedRequest = new Request(request.url, {
     headers: request.headers,
     method: request.method,
     redirect: request.redirect,
     cache: request.cache,
+    signal: request.signal,
   });
 
   // If duplex is not set, set it to 'half' to avoid duplex issues with unidici
diff --git a/packages/tanstack-react-start/src/__tests__/patchRequest.test.ts b/packages/tanstack-react-start/src/__tests__/patchRequest.test.ts
index 1914ee0454a..cc513064f13 100644
--- a/packages/tanstack-react-start/src/__tests__/patchRequest.test.ts
+++ b/packages/tanstack-react-start/src/__tests__/patchRequest.test.ts
@@ -45,12 +45,14 @@ describe('patchRequest', () => {
     expect(cloned.cache).toBe('no-cache');
   });
 
-  // The previous "forwards signal aborts" regression test cannot run under Node
-  // 24 + jsdom + undici: constructing `new Request(url, { signal })` with any
-  // AbortSignal throws TypeError due to undici's tightened cross-realm
-  // instanceof check. patchRequest intentionally omits the signal to avoid that
-  // error; verifying the trade-off in a unit test isn't possible in this
-  // environment.
+  it('forwards signal aborts from the original request', () => {
+    const controller = new AbortController();
+    const original = new Request('https://example.com/', { signal: controller.signal });
+    const cloned = patchRequest(original);
+    expect(cloned.signal.aborted).toBe(false);
+    controller.abort();
+    expect(cloned.signal.aborted).toBe(true);
+  });
 
   it('clones POST requests without forwarding the body', () => {
     // patchRequest deliberately omits `body` from the cloned init (see #7020)
diff --git a/packages/tanstack-react-start/src/server/utils/index.ts b/packages/tanstack-react-start/src/server/utils/index.ts
index 8c35f07d63c..717f4312807 100644
--- a/packages/tanstack-react-start/src/server/utils/index.ts
+++ b/packages/tanstack-react-start/src/server/utils/index.ts
@@ -69,17 +69,12 @@ export function getResponseClerkState(requestState: RequestState, additionalStat
  * @internal
  */
 export const patchRequest = (request: Request) => {
-  // Omit `signal` from the clone: Node 24's bundled undici tightened the
-  // instanceof AbortSignal check on RequestInit.signal and rejects any signal
-  // it does not recognize as its own — including the standard AbortSignal from
-  // framework Request subclasses or from `new AbortController()`. Until the
-  // ecosystem stabilizes, abort propagation through this clone is intentionally
-  // dropped. See packages/backend/src/proxy.ts for the same workaround.
   const clonedRequest = new Request(request.url, {
     headers: request.headers,
     method: request.method,
     redirect: request.redirect,
     cache: request.cache,
+    signal: request.signal,
   });
 
   // If duplex is not set, set it to 'half' to avoid duplex issues with unidici