diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 49f4d3ac..287dba3d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
     [#184](https://github.com/Lightning-AI/utilities/pull/184),
     [#185](https://github.com/Lightning-AI/utilities/pull/185))
 
+- Added `rank_zero_only(..., default=)` argument to return a default value on rank > 1 ([#187](https://github.com/Lightning-AI/utilities/pull/187))
+
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/src/lightning_utilities/core/rank_zero.py b/src/lightning_utilities/core/rank_zero.py
index c0546be0..448013f5 100644
--- a/src/lightning_utilities/core/rank_zero.py
+++ b/src/lightning_utilities/core/rank_zero.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 from platform import python_version
 from typing import Any, Callable, Optional, TypeVar, Union
 
-from typing_extensions import ParamSpec
+from typing_extensions import ParamSpec, overload
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -17,7 +17,17 @@
 P = ParamSpec("P")
 
 
+@overload
 def rank_zero_only(fn: Callable[P, T]) -> Callable[P, Optional[T]]:
+    ...
+
+
+@overload
+def rank_zero_only(fn: Callable[P, T], default: T) -> Callable[P, T]:
+    ...
+
+
+def rank_zero_only(fn: Callable[P, T], default: Optional[T] = None) -> Callable[P, Optional[T]]:
     """Wrap a function to call internal function only in rank zero.
 
     Function that can be used as a decorator to enable a function/method being called only on global rank 0.
@@ -31,7 +41,7 @@ def wrapped_fn(*args: P.args, **kwargs: P.kwargs) -> Optional[T]:
             raise RuntimeError("The `rank_zero_only.rank` needs to be set before use")
         if rank == 0:
             return fn(*args, **kwargs)
-        return None
+        return default
 
     return wrapped_fn
 
diff --git a/tests/unittests/core/test_rank_zero.py b/tests/unittests/core/test_rank_zero.py
index 523dbd43..b96b3d13 100644
--- a/tests/unittests/core/test_rank_zero.py
+++ b/tests/unittests/core/test_rank_zero.py
@@ -15,3 +15,14 @@ def test_rank_prefixed_message(rank):
     assert message == f"[rank: {rank}] bar"
     # reset
     del rank_zero_only.rank
+
+
+def test_rank_zero_only_default():
+    foo = lambda: "foo"
+    rank_zero_foo = rank_zero_only(foo, "not foo")
+
+    rank_zero_only.rank = 0
+    assert rank_zero_foo() == "foo"
+
+    rank_zero_only.rank = 1
+    assert rank_zero_foo() == "not foo"