diff --git a/include/libcamera/internal/global_configuration.h b/include/libcamera/internal/global_configuration.h
index 2c0bfadb..5eb646e3 100644
--- a/include/libcamera/internal/global_configuration.h
+++ b/include/libcamera/internal/global_configuration.h
@@ -22,12 +22,10 @@ namespace libcamera {
 class GlobalConfiguration
 {
 public:
-	using Option = const ValueNode &;
-
 	GlobalConfiguration();
 
 	unsigned int version() const;
-	Option configuration() const;
+	const ValueNode &configuration() const;
 
 	template<typename T>
 	std::optional<T> option(
diff --git a/src/libcamera/global_configuration.cpp b/src/libcamera/global_configuration.cpp
index 4d154c02..a7056261 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/global_configuration.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/global_configuration.cpp
@@ -55,14 +55,6 @@ LOG_DEFINE_CATEGORY(Configuration)
  * options, or configuration() to access the whole configuration.
  */
 
-/**
- * \typedef GlobalConfiguration::Option
- * \brief Type representing a configuration option
- *
- * All code outside GlobalConfiguration must use this type declaration and not
- * the underlying type.
- */
-
 /**
  * \brief Initialize the global configuration
  */
@@ -153,12 +145,9 @@ unsigned int GlobalConfiguration::version() const
  * The requested part of the configuration can be accessed using \a ValueNode
  * methods.
  *
- * \note \a ValueNode type itself shouldn't be used in type declarations to
- * avoid trouble if we decide to change the underlying data objects in future.
- *
- * \return The top-level configuration option
+ * \return The global configuration
  */
-GlobalConfiguration::Option GlobalConfiguration::configuration() const
+const ValueNode &GlobalConfiguration::configuration() const
 {
 	return (*configuration_)["configuration"];
 }
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/simple/simple.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/simple/simple.cpp
index 0aa5b1c5..c6fe12d6 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/simple/simple.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/simple/simple.cpp
@@ -1880,7 +1880,7 @@ bool SimplePipelineHandler::matchDevice(std::shared_ptr<MediaDevice> media,
 
 	swIspEnabled_ = info.swIspEnabled;
 	const GlobalConfiguration &configuration = cameraManager()->_d()->configuration();
-	for (GlobalConfiguration::Option entry :
+	for (const ValueNode &entry :
 	     configuration.configuration()["pipelines"]["simple"]["supported_devices"]
 		     .asList()) {
 		auto name = entry["driver"].get<std::string>();