diff --git a/python/cudf_polars/cudf_polars/streaming/benchmarks/utils.py b/python/cudf_polars/cudf_polars/streaming/benchmarks/utils.py
index 40670caae6d1..c430ffc034dd 100644
--- a/python/cudf_polars/cudf_polars/streaming/benchmarks/utils.py
+++ b/python/cudf_polars/cudf_polars/streaming/benchmarks/utils.py
@@ -684,7 +684,9 @@ def serialize(self, engine: StreamingEngine | None) -> dict:
             config_options = config_options.drop_unserializable()
             rapidsmpf_options = engine.rapidsmpf_options.get_strings()
             result["config_options"] = {
-                "config_options": dataclasses.asdict(config_options),
+                "config_options": dataclasses.asdict(
+                    config_options, dict_factory=ConfigOptions.dict_factory
+                ),
                 "rapidsmpf_options": rapidsmpf_options,
             }
             # discard unserializable / unnecessary UUIDs
diff --git a/python/cudf_polars/cudf_polars/utils/config.py b/python/cudf_polars/cudf_polars/utils/config.py
index b7aeabf58140..315aa0c8f8cd 100644
--- a/python/cudf_polars/cudf_polars/utils/config.py
+++ b/python/cudf_polars/cudf_polars/utils/config.py
@@ -1002,6 +1002,27 @@ class ConfigOptions(Generic[ExecutorType]):
     device: int | None = None
     memory_resource_config: MemoryResourceConfig | None = None
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def dict_factory(items: list[tuple[str, Any]]) -> dict[str, Any]:
+        """
+        ``dict_factory`` for :func:`dataclasses.asdict`.
+
+        Converts any :data:`UNSPECIFIED` value to ``None``
+        (e.g. ParquetOptions.prefetch_file_metadata) so the resulting
+        dict can be serialized with :func:`json.dumps`.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        items
+            The ``(key, value)`` pairs for a single dataclass level, as passed
+            by :func:`dataclasses.asdict`.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        A dict with :data:`UNSPECIFIED` values replaced by ``None``.
+        """
+        return {k: (None if isinstance(v, Unspecified) else v) for k, v in items}
+
     def drop_unserializable(self) -> ConfigOptions[ExecutorType]:
         """
         Return a copy safe to pickle to a worker/actor.
diff --git a/python/cudf_polars/tests/test_config.py b/python/cudf_polars/tests/test_config.py
index 59321b07cf39..fd184cf2f2c3 100644
--- a/python/cudf_polars/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/python/cudf_polars/tests/test_config.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import dataclasses
 from typing import cast
 
 import pytest
@@ -553,6 +554,16 @@ def test_parquet_options_object_engine_default() -> None:
     assert isinstance(config.parquet_options.prefetch_file_metadata, Unspecified)
 
 
+def test_parquet_options_unspecified_dict_factory() -> None:
+    parquet_options = ParquetOptions()
+    config = ConfigOptions.from_polars_engine(
+        pl.GPUEngine(executor="streaming", parquet_options=parquet_options)
+    )
+    assert isinstance(config.parquet_options.prefetch_file_metadata, Unspecified)
+    result = dataclasses.asdict(config, dict_factory=ConfigOptions.dict_factory)
+    assert result["parquet_options"]["prefetch_file_metadata"] is None
+
+
 def test_validate_raise_on_fail() -> None:
     with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="'raise_on_fail' must be"):
         ConfigOptions.from_polars_engine(