diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index dbf0bff..191ff4c 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ importFrom(sparklyr,spark_write_text)
 importFrom(tidyr,pivot_longer)
 importFrom(tidyselect,matches)
 importFrom(tidyselect,tidyselect_data_has_predicates)
+importFrom(utils,compareVersion)
 importFrom(utils,head)
 importFrom(utils,type.convert)
 importFrom(vctrs,vec_as_names)
diff --git a/R/install-pyspark.R b/R/install-pyspark.R
index 2b92dea..9e606bb 100644
--- a/R/install-pyspark.R
+++ b/R/install-pyspark.R
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ install_pyspark <- function(envname = "r-sparklyr",
     method = method,
     python_version = python_version,
     pip = TRUE,
-    ...
+    ... = ...
   )
 }
 
diff --git a/R/local-connect.R b/R/local-connect.R
index 1080fc1..d5f71de 100644
--- a/R/local-connect.R
+++ b/R/local-connect.R
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 #' Starts Spark Connect locally
 #' @param version Spark version to use (3.4 or above)
 #' @param scala_version Acceptable Scala version of packages to be loaded
+#' @param include_args Flag that indicates wether to add the additional arguments
+#' to the command that starts the service. At this time, only the 'packages'
+#' argument is submitted.
 #' @param ... Optional arguments; currently unused
 #' @export
 spark_connect_service_start <- function(version = "3.4",
                                         scala_version = "2.12",
+                                        include_args = TRUE,
                                         ...) {
   get_version <- spark_install_find(version = version)
   cmd <- path(get_version$sparkVersionDir, "sbin", "start-connect-server.sh")
@@ -12,6 +16,9 @@ spark_connect_service_start <- function(version = "3.4",
     "--packages",
     glue("org.apache.spark:spark-connect_{scala_version}:{get_version$sparkVersion}")
   )
+  if(!include_args) {
+    args <- ""
+  }
   prs <- process$new(
     command = cmd,
     args = args,
diff --git a/R/package.R b/R/package.R
index 27e0389..eea8d24 100644
--- a/R/package.R
+++ b/R/package.R
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 #' @importFrom rlang is_string is_character as_utf8_character parse_exprs
 #' @importFrom methods new is setOldClass
 #' @importFrom tidyselect matches
-#' @importFrom utils head type.convert
+#' @importFrom utils head type.convert compareVersion
 #' @importFrom tidyr pivot_longer
 #' @importFrom vctrs vec_as_names
 #' @importFrom processx process
diff --git a/man/spark_connect_service_start.Rd b/man/spark_connect_service_start.Rd
index 4bfbfeb..bcf4fb2 100644
--- a/man/spark_connect_service_start.Rd
+++ b/man/spark_connect_service_start.Rd
@@ -5,7 +5,12 @@
 \alias{spark_connect_service_stop}
 \title{Starts Spark Connect locally}
 \usage{
-spark_connect_service_start(version = "3.4", scala_version = "2.12", ...)
+spark_connect_service_start(
+  version = "3.4",
+  scala_version = "2.12",
+  include_args = TRUE,
+  ...
+)
 
 spark_connect_service_stop(version = "3.4", ...)
 }
@@ -14,6 +19,10 @@ spark_connect_service_stop(version = "3.4", ...)
 
 \item{scala_version}{Acceptable Scala version of packages to be loaded}
 
+\item{include_args}{Flag that indicates wether to add the additional arguments
+to the command that starts the service. At this time, only the 'packages'
+argument is submitted.}
+
 \item{...}{Optional arguments; currently unused}
 }
 \description{