diff --git a/examples/frontend/src/github/githubUtils.ts b/examples/frontend/src/github/githubUtils.ts
index 17bb455..a315516 100644
--- a/examples/frontend/src/github/githubUtils.ts
+++ b/examples/frontend/src/github/githubUtils.ts
@@ -14,12 +14,24 @@ export type ServerErrorStatus = Exclude<
   ComputeRange<500>[number]
 >;
 
+function isMergeableObject(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
+  return (
+    typeof value === "object" &&
+    value !== null &&
+    !Array.isArray(value) &&
+    (value.constructor === Object || value.constructor === undefined)
+  );
+}
+
 export function deepMerge<T, U extends T>(target: T, source: U): U {
-  const returnType = (target || {}) as U;
+  const result = { ...target } as U;
   for (const key in source) {
-    if (source[key] instanceof Object)
-      Object.assign(source[key], deepMerge(returnType[key], source[key]));
+    const sourceValue = source[key];
+    const targetValue = result[key];
+    result[key] =
+      isMergeableObject(targetValue) && isMergeableObject(sourceValue)
+        ? (deepMerge(targetValue, sourceValue) as U[Extract<keyof U, string>])
+        : sourceValue;
   }
-  Object.assign(returnType || {}, source);
-  return returnType;
+  return result;
 }
diff --git a/plugins/typescript/src/generators/generateReactQueryComponents.test.ts b/plugins/typescript/src/generators/generateReactQueryComponents.test.ts
index 7c83cc5..664921b 100644
--- a/plugins/typescript/src/generators/generateReactQueryComponents.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/typescript/src/generators/generateReactQueryComponents.test.ts
@@ -2848,14 +2848,26 @@ describe("generateReactQueryComponents", () => {
         ComputeRange<500>[number]
       >;
 
+      function isMergeableObject(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
+        return (
+          typeof value === "object" &&
+          value !== null &&
+          !Array.isArray(value) &&
+          (value.constructor === Object || value.constructor === undefined)
+        );
+      }
+
       export function deepMerge<T, U extends T>(target: T, source: U): U {
-        const returnType = (target || {}) as U;
+        const result = { ...target } as U;
         for (const key in source) {
-          if (source[key] instanceof Object)
-            Object.assign(source[key], deepMerge(returnType[key], source[key]));
+          const sourceValue = source[key];
+          const targetValue = result[key];
+          result[key] =
+            isMergeableObject(targetValue) && isMergeableObject(sourceValue)
+              ? (deepMerge(targetValue, sourceValue) as U[Extract<keyof U, string>])
+              : sourceValue;
         }
-        Object.assign(returnType || {}, source);
-        return returnType;
+        return result;
       }
       "
     `);
diff --git a/plugins/typescript/src/templates/utils.test.ts b/plugins/typescript/src/templates/utils.test.ts
index 5ceffd4..68b2892 100644
--- a/plugins/typescript/src/templates/utils.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/typescript/src/templates/utils.test.ts
@@ -2,23 +2,35 @@ import { it, describe, expect } from "vitest";
 
 describe("deepMerge", () => {
   /* Playground to craft `deepMerge` */
+  function isMergeableObject(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
+    return (
+      typeof value === "object" &&
+      value !== null &&
+      !Array.isArray(value) &&
+      (value.constructor === Object || value.constructor === undefined)
+    );
+  }
+
   function deepMerge<T, U extends T>(target: T, source: U): U {
-    const returnType = (target || {}) as U;
+    const result = { ...target } as U;
     for (const key in source) {
-      if (source[key] instanceof Object)
-        Object.assign(source[key], deepMerge(returnType[key], source[key]));
+      const sourceValue = source[key];
+      const targetValue = result[key];
+      result[key] =
+        isMergeableObject(targetValue) && isMergeableObject(sourceValue)
+          ? (deepMerge(targetValue, sourceValue) as U[Extract<keyof U, string>])
+          : sourceValue;
     }
-    Object.assign(returnType || {}, source);
-    return returnType;
+    return result;
   }
   /* End of playground */
 
-  it("should merge two objects", () => {
-    type fetcherOptions = {
-      headers: { "x-custom"?: boolean; authorization: string };
-      queryParams?: { media?: string };
-    };
+  type fetcherOptions = {
+    headers: { "x-custom"?: boolean; authorization: string };
+    queryParams?: { media?: string };
+  };
 
+  it("should merge two objects", () => {
     const a: fetcherOptions = {
       headers: { "x-custom": true, authorization: "nope!" },
       queryParams: { media: "vite testing" },
@@ -33,4 +45,57 @@ describe("deepMerge", () => {
       queryParams: { media: "vite testing" },
     });
   });
+
+  type variables = {
+    headers?: { "x-custom"?: boolean; authorization?: string };
+    body?: Record<string, unknown>;
+  };
+
+  it("should not mutate the target", () => {
+    const target: variables = {
+      headers: { "x-custom": true, authorization: "nope!" },
+    };
+
+    deepMerge(target, { headers: { authorization: "authorized!" } });
+
+    expect(target).toEqual({
+      headers: { "x-custom": true, authorization: "nope!" },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("should not mutate the source", () => {
+    const target: variables = { headers: { "x-custom": true } };
+    const source: variables = { headers: { authorization: "authorized!" } };
+
+    deepMerge(target, source);
+
+    expect(source).toEqual({ headers: { authorization: "authorized!" } });
+  });
+
+  it("should replace arrays instead of merging them by index", () => {
+    expect(deepMerge({ ids: [1, 2, 3] }, { ids: [9] })).toEqual({ ids: [9] });
+  });
+
+  it("should not merge into non-plain objects", () => {
+    const body = new FormData();
+    body.append("file", "content");
+
+    expect(deepMerge({ body: new FormData() }, { body }).body).toBe(body);
+  });
+
+  it("should not leak state between calls sharing a target", () => {
+    const fetcherOptions: variables = {
+      headers: { authorization: "authorized!" },
+    };
+
+    const first = deepMerge(fetcherOptions, {
+      body: { title: "first", archivedAt: "2026-01-01" },
+    });
+    const second = deepMerge(fetcherOptions, {
+      body: { title: "second" },
+    });
+
+    expect(first.body).toEqual({ title: "first", archivedAt: "2026-01-01" });
+    expect(second.body).toEqual({ title: "second" });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/plugins/typescript/src/templates/utils.ts b/plugins/typescript/src/templates/utils.ts
index 3a700bf..102e24d 100644
--- a/plugins/typescript/src/templates/utils.ts
+++ b/plugins/typescript/src/templates/utils.ts
@@ -14,13 +14,25 @@ export const getUtils = () =>
 export type ${clientErrorStatus} = Exclude<ComputeRange<500>[number], ComputeRange<400>[number]>;
 export type ${serverErrorStatus} = Exclude<ComputeRange<600>[number], ComputeRange<500>[number]>;
 
+function isMergeableObject(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
+  return (
+    typeof value === "object" &&
+    value !== null &&
+    !Array.isArray(value) &&
+    (value.constructor === Object || value.constructor === undefined)
+  );
+}
+
 export function deepMerge<T, U extends T>(target: T, source: U): U {
-  const returnType = (target || {}) as U;
+  const result = { ...target } as U;
   for (const key in source) {
-    if (source[key] instanceof Object)
-      Object.assign(source[key], deepMerge(returnType[key], source[key]));
+    const sourceValue = source[key];
+    const targetValue = result[key];
+    result[key] =
+      isMergeableObject(targetValue) && isMergeableObject(sourceValue)
+        ? (deepMerge(targetValue, sourceValue) as U[Extract<keyof U, string>])
+        : sourceValue;
   }
-  Object.assign(returnType || {}, source);
-  return returnType;
+  return result;
 }
 `;