diff --git a/spacy/language.py b/spacy/language.py
index 99d55df81..08fb63d4c 100644
--- a/spacy/language.py
+++ b/spacy/language.py
@@ -605,7 +605,7 @@ class Language:
         factory_name: str,
         name: Optional[str] = None,
         *,
-        config: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = SimpleFrozenDict(),
+        config: Dict[str, Any] = SimpleFrozenDict(),
         raw_config: Optional[Config] = None,
         validate: bool = True,
     ) -> Callable[[Doc], Doc]:
@@ -615,8 +615,8 @@ class Language:
         factory_name (str): Name of component factory.
         name (Optional[str]): Optional name to assign to component instance.
             Defaults to factory name if not set.
-        config (Optional[Dict[str, Any]]): Config parameters to use for this
-            component. Will be merged with default config, if available.
+        config (Dict[str, Any]): Config parameters to use for this component.
+            Will be merged with default config, if available.
         raw_config (Optional[Config]): Internals: the non-interpolated config.
         validate (bool): Whether to validate the component config against the
             arguments and types expected by the factory.
@@ -640,7 +640,6 @@ class Language:
             )
             raise ValueError(err)
         pipe_meta = self.get_factory_meta(factory_name)
-        config = config or {}
         # This is unideal, but the alternative would mean you always need to
         # specify the full config settings, which is not really viable.
         if pipe_meta.default_config:
@@ -722,7 +721,7 @@ class Language:
         first: Optional[bool] = None,
         last: Optional[bool] = None,
         source: Optional["Language"] = None,
-        config: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = SimpleFrozenDict(),
+        config: Dict[str, Any] = SimpleFrozenDict(),
         raw_config: Optional[Config] = None,
         validate: bool = True,
     ) -> Callable[[Doc], Doc]:
@@ -743,8 +742,8 @@ class Language:
         last (bool): If True, insert component last in the pipeline.
         source (Language): Optional loaded nlp object to copy the pipeline
             component from.
-        config (Optional[Dict[str, Any]]): Config parameters to use for this
-            component. Will be merged with default config, if available.
+        config (Dict[str, Any]): Config parameters to use for this component.
+            Will be merged with default config, if available.
         raw_config (Optional[Config]): Internals: the non-interpolated config.
         validate (bool): Whether to validate the component config against the
             arguments and types expected by the factory.
diff --git a/website/docs/api/language.md b/website/docs/api/language.md
index b09ae1aa2..0aa33b281 100644
--- a/website/docs/api/language.md
+++ b/website/docs/api/language.md
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ component, adds it to the pipeline and returns it.
 | `after`                               | Component name or index to insert component directly after. ~~Optional[Union[str, int]]~~                                                                                                                                                                                                |
 | `first`                               | Insert component first / not first in the pipeline. ~~Optional[bool]~~                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
 | `last`                                | Insert component last / not last in the pipeline. ~~Optional[bool]~~                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
-| `config` <Tag variant="new">3</Tag>   | Optional config parameters to use for this component. Will be merged with the `default_config` specified by the component factory. ~~Optional[Dict[str, Any]]~~                                                                                                                          |
+| `config` <Tag variant="new">3</Tag>   | Optional config parameters to use for this component. Will be merged with the `default_config` specified by the component factory. ~~Dict[str, Any]~~                                                                                                                                    |
 | `source` <Tag variant="new">3</Tag>   | Optional source pipeline to copy component from. If a source is provided, the `factory_name` is interpreted as the name of the component in the source pipeline. Make sure that the vocab, vectors and settings of the source pipeline match the target pipeline. ~~Optional[Language]~~ |
 | `validate` <Tag variant="new">3</Tag> | Whether to validate the component config and arguments against the types expected by the factory. Defaults to `True`. ~~bool~~                                                                                                                                                           |
 | **RETURNS**                           | The pipeline component. ~~Callable[[Doc], Doc]~~                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ To create a component and add it to the pipeline, you should always use
 | `factory_name`                        | Name of the registered component factory. ~~str~~                                                                                                                           |
 | `name`                                | Optional unique name of pipeline component instance. If not set, the factory name is used. An error is raised if the name already exists in the pipeline. ~~Optional[str]~~ |
 | _keyword-only_                        |                                                                                                                                                                             |
-| `config` <Tag variant="new">3</Tag>   | Optional config parameters to use for this component. Will be merged with the `default_config` specified by the component factory. ~~Optional[Dict[str, Any]]~~             |
+| `config` <Tag variant="new">3</Tag>   | Optional config parameters to use for this component. Will be merged with the `default_config` specified by the component factory. ~~Dict[str, Any]~~                       |
 | `validate` <Tag variant="new">3</Tag> | Whether to validate the component config and arguments against the types expected by the factory. Defaults to `True`. ~~bool~~                                              |
 | **RETURNS**                           | The pipeline component. ~~Callable[[Doc], Doc]~~                                                                                                                            |