diff --git a/src/terminal/prompt-select-styled-params.ts b/src/terminal/prompt-select-styled-params.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..34e01bc93b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/terminal/prompt-select-styled-params.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import { stylePromptHint, stylePromptMessage } from "./prompt-style.js";
+
+type SelectParamsLike = {
+  message: string;
+  options: readonly object[];
+};
+
+type PromptSelectStylers = {
+  message: (value: string) => string;
+  hint: (value: string) => string | undefined;
+};
+
+const defaultStylers: PromptSelectStylers = {
+  message: stylePromptMessage,
+  hint: stylePromptHint,
+};
+
+export function styleSelectParams<TParams extends SelectParamsLike>(
+  params: TParams,
+  stylers: PromptSelectStylers = defaultStylers,
+): TParams {
+  return {
+    ...params,
+    message: stylers.message(params.message),
+    options: params.options.map((opt) => {
+      const hint = "hint" in opt && typeof opt.hint === "string" ? opt.hint : undefined;
+      return hint === undefined ? opt : { ...opt, hint: stylers.hint(hint) };
+    }),
+  } as TParams;
+}
diff --git a/src/terminal/prompt-select-styled.test.ts b/src/terminal/prompt-select-styled.test.ts
index 528d2160c88..c89d0e43fa2 100644
--- a/src/terminal/prompt-select-styled.test.ts
+++ b/src/terminal/prompt-select-styled.test.ts
@@ -1,45 +1,23 @@
-import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { styleSelectParams } from "./prompt-select-styled-params.js";
 
-const { selectMock, stylePromptMessageMock, stylePromptHintMock } = vi.hoisted(() => ({
-  selectMock: vi.fn(),
-  stylePromptMessageMock: vi.fn((value: string) => `msg:${value}`),
-  stylePromptHintMock: vi.fn((value: string) => `hint:${value}`),
-}));
-
-vi.mock("@clack/prompts", () => ({
-  select: selectMock,
-}));
-
-vi.mock("./prompt-style.js", () => ({
-  stylePromptMessage: stylePromptMessageMock,
-  stylePromptHint: stylePromptHintMock,
-}));
-
-import { selectStyled } from "./prompt-select-styled.js";
-
-describe("selectStyled", () => {
-  beforeEach(() => {
-    selectMock.mockClear();
-    stylePromptMessageMock.mockClear();
-    stylePromptHintMock.mockClear();
-  });
-
-  it("styles message and option hints before delegating to clack select", () => {
-    const expected = Symbol("selected");
-    selectMock.mockReturnValue(expected);
-
-    const result = selectStyled({
-      message: "Pick channel",
-      options: [
-        { value: "stable", label: "Stable", hint: "Tagged releases" },
-        { value: "dev", label: "Dev" },
-      ],
-    });
-
-    expect(result).toBe(expected);
-    expect(stylePromptMessageMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith("Pick channel");
-    expect(stylePromptHintMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith("Tagged releases");
-    expect(selectMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+describe("styleSelectParams", () => {
+  it("styles message and option hints before select receives params", () => {
+    expect(
+      styleSelectParams(
+        {
+          message: "Pick channel",
+          options: [
+            { value: "stable", label: "Stable", hint: "Tagged releases" },
+            { value: "dev", label: "Dev" },
+          ],
+        },
+        {
+          message: (value) => `msg:${value}`,
+          hint: (value) => `hint:${value}`,
+        },
+      ),
+    ).toEqual({
       message: "msg:Pick channel",
       options: [
         { value: "stable", label: "Stable", hint: "hint:Tagged releases" },
@@ -47,4 +25,24 @@ describe("selectStyled", () => {
       ],
     });
   });
+
+  it("keeps unhinted options unchanged", () => {
+    const option = { value: "dev", label: "Dev" };
+    const params = styleSelectParams(
+      {
+        message: "Pick channel",
+        options: [option],
+      },
+      {
+        message: (value) => `msg:${value}`,
+        hint: (value) => `hint:${value}`,
+      },
+    );
+
+    expect(params).toEqual({
+      message: "msg:Pick channel",
+      options: [{ value: "dev", label: "Dev" }],
+    });
+    expect(params.options[0]).toBe(option);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/terminal/prompt-select-styled.ts b/src/terminal/prompt-select-styled.ts
index 40c86285c15..7af07935f8f 100644
--- a/src/terminal/prompt-select-styled.ts
+++ b/src/terminal/prompt-select-styled.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,6 @@
 import { select } from "@clack/prompts";
-import { stylePromptHint, stylePromptMessage } from "./prompt-style.js";
+import { styleSelectParams } from "./prompt-select-styled-params.js";
 
 export function selectStyled<T>(params: Parameters<typeof select<T>>[0]) {
-  return select({
-    ...params,
-    message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
-    options: params.options.map((opt) =>
-      opt.hint === undefined ? opt : { ...opt, hint: stylePromptHint(opt.hint) },
-    ),
-  });
+  return select(styleSelectParams(params));
 }