diff --git a/jupyter_server/services/kernels/kernelmanager.py b/jupyter_server/services/kernels/kernelmanager.py
index 8f4e8277f9..ee80799c21 100644
--- a/jupyter_server/services/kernels/kernelmanager.py
+++ b/jupyter_server/services/kernels/kernelmanager.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from functools import partial, wraps
 
+from jupyter_client.asynchronous.client import AsyncKernelClient
 from jupyter_client.ioloop.manager import AsyncIOLoopKernelManager
 from jupyter_client.multikernelmanager import AsyncMultiKernelManager, MultiKernelManager
 from jupyter_client.session import Session
@@ -37,11 +38,13 @@
     Any,
     Bool,
     Dict,
+    DottedObjectName,
     Float,
     Instance,
     Integer,
     List,
     TraitError,
+    Type,
     Unicode,
     default,
     validate,
@@ -845,6 +848,30 @@ async def wrapped_method(self, *args, **kwargs):
 class ServerKernelManager(AsyncIOLoopKernelManager):
     """A server-specific kernel manager."""
 
+    # Override parent traits to make them configurable
+    client_class = DottedObjectName(
+        "jupyter_client.asynchronous.AsyncKernelClient",
+        config=True,
+        help="""The kernel client class to use for communicating with kernels.
+
+        This should be a subclass of KernelClient, and it should accept the
+        following arguments:
+        - kernel_manager
+        - blocking
+        - loop
+        """,
+    )
+
+    client_factory = Type(
+        default_value=AsyncKernelClient,
+        klass="jupyter_client.client.KernelClient",
+        config=True,
+        help="""The kernel client factory class to use for creating client instances.
+
+        This should be a subclass of KernelClient.
+        """,
+    )
+
     # Define activity-related attributes:
     execution_state = Unicode(
         None, allow_none=True, help="The current execution state of the kernel"
diff --git a/tests/services/kernels/test_config.py b/tests/services/kernels/test_config.py
index 1db2e11b1f..657f8c8ea1 100644
--- a/tests/services/kernels/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/services/kernels/test_config.py
@@ -1,7 +1,14 @@
 import pytest
+from jupyter_client.asynchronous.client import AsyncKernelClient
+from jupyter_client.blocking.client import BlockingKernelClient
+from jupyter_client.client import KernelClient
 from traitlets.config import Config
 
-from jupyter_server.services.kernels.kernelmanager import AsyncMappingKernelManager
+from jupyter_server.services.kernels.kernelmanager import (
+    AsyncMappingKernelManager,
+    ServerKernelManager,
+)
+from jupyter_server.utils import import_item
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
@@ -29,3 +36,31 @@ def test_not_server_kernel_manager(jp_configurable_serverapp):
     ]
     with pytest.warns(FutureWarning, match="is not a subclass of 'ServerKernelManager'"):
         jp_configurable_serverapp(argv=argv)
+
+
+def test_server_kernel_manager_client_traits_via_config():
+    """Test that ServerKernelManager client traits can be configured via Config object."""
+    config = Config()
+    config.ServerKernelManager.client_class = "jupyter_client.blocking.client.BlockingKernelClient"
+    config.ServerKernelManager.client_factory = BlockingKernelClient
+
+    km = ServerKernelManager(config=config)
+    assert km.client_class == "jupyter_client.blocking.client.BlockingKernelClient"
+    assert km.client_factory == BlockingKernelClient
+
+
+def test_server_kernel_manager_client_traits_default_values():
+    """Test that ServerKernelManager client traits have correct default values."""
+    km = ServerKernelManager()
+    assert km.client_class == "jupyter_client.asynchronous.AsyncKernelClient"
+    # Default client_factory should be the AsyncKernelClient class
+    assert km.client_factory == AsyncKernelClient
+
+
+def test_server_kernel_manager_client_class_string_configuration():
+    """Test that client_class can be configured with different string values."""
+    config = Config()
+    config.ServerKernelManager.client_class = "jupyter_client.client.KernelClient"
+
+    km = ServerKernelManager(config=config)
+    assert km.client_class == "jupyter_client.client.KernelClient"