diff --git a/docs/developer_guides/new_methods.md b/docs/developer_guides/new_methods.md
index dd1ef31e76..aefd1384ac 100644
--- a/docs/developer_guides/new_methods.md
+++ b/docs/developer_guides/new_methods.md
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ The `NERFSTUDIO_METHOD_CONFIGS` environment variable additionally accepts a func
 ```python
 """my_method/my_config.py"""
 
-from dataclasses import dataclass
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from nerfstudio.engine.trainer import TrainerConfig
 from nerfstudio.plugins.types import MethodSpecification
 
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ def MyMethodFunc():
 
 @dataclass
 class MyMethodClass(MethodSpecification):
-    config: TrainerConfig = TrainerConfig(...)
+    config: TrainerConfig = field(default_factory=lambda: TrainerConfig(...))
     description: str = "Custom description"
 ```
 
diff --git a/tests/plugins/test_registry.py b/tests/plugins/test_registry.py
index ae704be4c5..cf8855e590 100644
--- a/tests/plugins/test_registry.py
+++ b/tests/plugins/test_registry.py
@@ -20,10 +20,12 @@
 
 @dataclass
 class TestConfigClass(MethodSpecification):
-    config: TrainerConfig = TrainerConfig(
-        method_name="test-method",
-        pipeline=VanillaPipelineConfig(),
-        optimizers={},
+    config: TrainerConfig = field(
+        default_factory=lambda: TrainerConfig(
+            method_name="test-method",
+            pipeline=VanillaPipelineConfig(),
+            optimizers={},
+        )
     )
     description: str = "Test description"