diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fd373768f1..618e5016aa 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ When updating the changelog, remember to be very clear about what behavior has c
 and what APIs have changed, if applicable.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
+
+## [29.48.2] - 2023-11-27
+- Remove usage of Optional from SimpleLoadBalancer
+
 ## [29.48.1] - 2023-11-27
 - Update SimpleLoadBalancer to use for loop instead of Map
 
@@ -5565,7 +5569,8 @@ patch operations can re-use these classes for generating patch messages.
 
 ## [0.14.1]
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/linkedin/rest.li/compare/v29.48.1...master
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/linkedin/rest.li/compare/v29.48.2...master
+[29.48.2]: https://github.com/linkedin/rest.li/compare/v29.48.1...v29.48.2
 [29.48.1]: https://github.com/linkedin/rest.li/compare/v29.48.0...v29.48.1
 [29.48.0]: https://github.com/linkedin/rest.li/compare/v29.47.0...v29.48.0
 [29.47.0]: https://github.com/linkedin/rest.li/compare/v29.46.9...v29.47.0
diff --git a/d2/src/main/java/com/linkedin/d2/balancer/simple/SimpleLoadBalancer.java b/d2/src/main/java/com/linkedin/d2/balancer/simple/SimpleLoadBalancer.java
index 4018dc2c96..ea6db1678f 100644
--- a/d2/src/main/java/com/linkedin/d2/balancer/simple/SimpleLoadBalancer.java
+++ b/d2/src/main/java/com/linkedin/d2/balancer/simple/SimpleLoadBalancer.java
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@
 import com.linkedin.d2.balancer.properties.UriProperties;
 import com.linkedin.d2.balancer.strategies.LoadBalancerStrategy;
 import com.linkedin.d2.balancer.subsetting.SubsettingState;
-import com.linkedin.d2.balancer.util.CustomAffinityRoutingURIProvider;
 import com.linkedin.d2.balancer.util.ClientFactoryProvider;
 import com.linkedin.d2.balancer.util.ClusterInfoProvider;
+import com.linkedin.d2.balancer.util.CustomAffinityRoutingURIProvider;
 import com.linkedin.d2.balancer.util.HostOverrideList;
 import com.linkedin.d2.balancer.util.HostToKeyMapper;
 import com.linkedin.d2.balancer.util.KeysAndHosts;
@@ -72,7 +72,6 @@
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Random;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.TreeMap;
@@ -88,9 +87,7 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
-import static com.linkedin.d2.discovery.util.LogUtil.debug;
-import static com.linkedin.d2.discovery.util.LogUtil.info;
-import static com.linkedin.d2.discovery.util.LogUtil.warn;
+import static com.linkedin.d2.discovery.util.LogUtil.*;
 
 public class SimpleLoadBalancer implements LoadBalancer, HashRingProvider, ClientFactoryProvider, PartitionInfoProvider, WarmUpService,
                                            ClusterInfoProvider
@@ -950,10 +947,10 @@ private Map<URI, TrackerClient> getPotentialClientsSubsetting(String serviceName
               {
                 possibleTrackerClient.setSubsetWeight(partitionId, weightedSubset.get(possibleUri));
               }
-              return Optional.of(possibleTrackerClient);
+              return possibleTrackerClient;
             }
           }
-          return Optional.empty();
+          return null;
         });
   }
 
@@ -962,13 +959,13 @@ private Map<URI, TrackerClient> getPotentialClientsNotSubsetting(String serviceN
                                                                ClusterProperties clusterProperties,
                                                                Set<URI> possibleUris) {
     return getPotentialClients(serviceProperties, clusterProperties, possibleUris,
-        possibleUri -> Optional.ofNullable(_state.getClient(serviceName, possibleUri)));
+        possibleUri -> _state.getClient(serviceName, possibleUri));
   }
 
   private Map<URI, TrackerClient> getPotentialClients(ServiceProperties serviceProperties,
                                                   ClusterProperties clusterProperties,
                                                   Set<URI> possibleUris,
-                                                  Function<URI, Optional<TrackerClient>> trackerClientFinder)
+                                                  Function<URI, TrackerClient> trackerClientFinder)
   {
     Map<URI, TrackerClient> clientsToLoadBalance = new HashMap<>(possibleUris.size());
     for (URI possibleUri : possibleUris)
@@ -976,8 +973,11 @@ private Map<URI, TrackerClient> getPotentialClients(ServiceProperties servicePro
       // don't pay attention to this uri if it's banned
       if (!serviceProperties.isBanned(possibleUri) && !clusterProperties.isBanned(possibleUri))
       {
-        trackerClientFinder.apply(possibleUri)
-            .ifPresent(trackerClient -> clientsToLoadBalance.put(possibleUri, trackerClient));
+        TrackerClient trackerClient = trackerClientFinder.apply(possibleUri);
+        if (trackerClient != null)
+        {
+          clientsToLoadBalance.put(possibleUri, trackerClient);
+        }
       }
       else
       {
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index afb43a7228..4224297576 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-version=29.48.1
+version=29.48.2
 group=com.linkedin.pegasus
 org.gradle.configureondemand=true
 org.gradle.parallel=true