diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index bf28ae7a5..a80939fb5 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ keywords = [
 ]
 
 dependencies = [
-    "fastapi>=0.125.0",
+    "fastapi[standard]>=0.125.0",
     "itsdangerous>=2.2.0",
     "Jinja2>=3.1.6",
     "minify-html>=0.18.1",
diff --git a/src/air/forms.py b/src/air/forms.py
index d4c181efe..0828a7ab8 100644
--- a/src/air/forms.py
+++ b/src/air/forms.py
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ async def flight_form_depends(flight: Annotated[FlightForm, Depends(FlightForm.f
     """
 
     model: type[BaseModel] | None = None
-    data: Any = None  # TODO change type to something more specific
+    data: type[BaseModel] | None = None
     initial_data: dict | None = None
     errors: list[ErrorDetails] | None = None
     is_valid: bool = False
diff --git a/tests/test_forms.py b/tests/test_forms.py
index 8589e0670..de8a7394e 100644
--- a/tests/test_forms.py
+++ b/tests/test_forms.py
@@ -633,3 +633,24 @@ def custom_widget(
 
     rendered = autoform.render()
     assert str(rendered) == "<custom>"
+
+
+def test_airform_rejects_non_basemodel_data() -> None:
+    """
+    This ensures the type annotation data: type[BaseModel] | None is enforced
+    """
+
+    class NotABaseModel:
+        name: str
+        age: int
+
+    class InvalidForm(air.AirForm):
+        model = NotABaseModel
+
+    form = InvalidForm()
+
+    # Should fail model is not a pydantic BaseModel type
+    with pytest.raises((TypeError, AttributeError)):
+        form.validate({"name": "Test", "age": 5})
+
+    assert not form.is_valid
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 8f4e73d73..a9afb96cd 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ name = "air"
 version = "0.44.0"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
-    { name = "fastapi" },
+    { name = "fastapi", extra = ["standard"] },
     { name = "frozendict" },
     { name = "itsdangerous" },
     { name = "jinja2" },
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ test = [
 
 [package.metadata]
 requires-dist = [
-    { name = "fastapi", specifier = ">=0.125.0" },
+    { name = "fastapi", extras = ["standard"], specifier = ">=0.125.0" },
     { name = "fastapi", extras = ["standard"], marker = "extra == 'standard'", specifier = ">=0.119.1" },
     { name = "frozendict", specifier = ">=2.4.7" },
     { name = "itsdangerous", specifier = ">=2.2.0" },