diff --git a/docs/source/examples/configs.rst b/docs/source/examples/configs.rst
index 4217356181..8a6caa2bb4 100644
--- a/docs/source/examples/configs.rst
+++ b/docs/source/examples/configs.rst
@@ -219,9 +219,9 @@ For example, to run the :code:`full_finetune` recipe with custom model and token
 
 Overriding components
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-If you would like to override a parameter in the config that has a :code:`_component_`
-field, you can do so by assigning to the parameter name directly. Any nested fields
-in the components can be overridden with dot notation.
+If you would like to override a class or function in the config that is instantiated
+via the :code:`_component_` field, you can do so by assigning to the parameter
+name directly. Any nested fields in the components can be overridden with dot notation.
 
 .. code-block:: yaml
 
diff --git a/recipes/alpaca_generate.py b/recipes/alpaca_generate.py
index c6c85a9586..eb2cd8c28d 100644
--- a/recipes/alpaca_generate.py
+++ b/recipes/alpaca_generate.py
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
 # This source code is licensed under the BSD-style license found in the
 # LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
 
-import sys
-
 import torch
 from omegaconf import DictConfig
 
diff --git a/tests/torchtune/config/test_utils.py b/tests/torchtune/config/test_utils.py
index 60669e8f53..2ab0b1fe9e 100644
--- a/tests/torchtune/config/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/torchtune/config/test_utils.py
@@ -67,3 +67,31 @@ def test_merge_yaml_and_cli_args(self, mock_load):
         assert conf.d == 6, f"d == {conf.d}, not 6 as set in overrides."
         assert conf.e == 7, f"e == {conf.e}, not 7 as set in overrides."
         mock_load.assert_called_once()
+
+        yaml_args, cli_args = parser.parse_known_args(
+            [
+                "--config",
+                "test.yaml",
+                "b=5",  # Test overriding component path but keeping other kwargs
+            ]
+        )
+        conf = _merge_yaml_and_cli_args(yaml_args, cli_args)
+        assert (
+            conf.b._component_ == 5
+        ), f"b == {conf.b._component_}, not 5 as set in overrides."
+        assert conf.b.c == 3, f"b.c == {conf.b.c}, not 3 as set in the config."
+        assert mock_load.call_count == 2
+
+        yaml_args, cli_args = parser.parse_known_args(
+            [
+                "--config",
+                "test.yaml",
+                "b.c=5",  # Test overriding kwarg but keeping component path
+            ]
+        )
+        conf = _merge_yaml_and_cli_args(yaml_args, cli_args)
+        assert (
+            conf.b._component_ == 2
+        ), f"b == {conf.b._component_}, not 2 as set in the config."
+        assert conf.b.c == 5, f"b.c == {conf.b.c}, not 5 as set in overrides."
+        assert mock_load.call_count == 3
diff --git a/torchtune/config/_utils.py b/torchtune/config/_utils.py
index 05d59fe0b4..c071c7d194 100644
--- a/torchtune/config/_utils.py
+++ b/torchtune/config/_utils.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 from argparse import Namespace
 from importlib import import_module
 from types import ModuleType
-from typing import Any, List
+from typing import Any, Dict, List, Union
 
 from omegaconf import DictConfig, OmegaConf