Abstract T cells predominate the immune responses in the synovial fluid of patients with persistent Lyme arthritis; however, their role in Lyme disease remains poorly defined. Using a murine model of persistent Lyme arthritis, we observed that bystander activation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells leads to arthritis-promoting IFN-γ, similar to the inflammatory environment seen in the synovial tissue of patients with posttreatment Lyme disease. TCR transgenic mice containing monoclonal specificity toward non–Borrelia epitopes confirmed that bystander T cell activation was responsible for disease development. The microbial pattern recognition receptor TLR2 was upregulated on T cells following infection, implicating it as marker of bystander T cell activation. In fact, T cell–intrinsic expression of TLR2 contributed to IFN-γ production and arthritis, providing a mechanism for microbial-induced bystander T cell activation during infection. The IL-10–deficient mouse reveals a novel TLR2-intrinsic role for T cells in Lyme arthritis, with potentially broad application to immune pathogenesis.