diff --git a/homeassistant/core.py b/homeassistant/core.py
index 089e7e3b298..73fc18fd3b7 100644
--- a/homeassistant/core.py
+++ b/homeassistant/core.py
@@ -1789,6 +1789,8 @@ class Config:
         """Initialize a new config object."""
         self.hass = hass
 
+        self._store = self._ConfigStore(self.hass)
+
         self.latitude: float = 0
         self.longitude: float = 0
         self.elevation: int = 0
@@ -1957,14 +1959,12 @@ class Config:
     async def async_update(self, **kwargs: Any) -> None:
         """Update the configuration from a dictionary."""
         self._update(source=ConfigSource.STORAGE, **kwargs)
-        await self.async_store()
+        await self._async_store()
         self.hass.bus.async_fire(EVENT_CORE_CONFIG_UPDATE, kwargs)
 
     async def async_load(self) -> None:
         """Load [homeassistant] core config."""
-        store = self._ConfigStore(self.hass)
-
-        if not (data := await store.async_load()):
+        if not (data := await self._store.async_load()):
             return
 
         # In 2021.9 we fixed validation to disallow a path (because that's never correct)
@@ -1994,7 +1994,7 @@ class Config:
             currency=data.get("currency"),
         )
 
-    async def async_store(self) -> None:
+    async def _async_store(self) -> None:
         """Store [homeassistant] core config."""
         data = {
             "latitude": self.latitude,
@@ -2010,8 +2010,7 @@ class Config:
             "currency": self.currency,
         }
 
-        store = self._ConfigStore(self.hass)
-        await store.async_save(data)
+        await self._store.async_save(data)
 
     # Circular dependency prevents us from generating the class at top level
     # pylint: disable-next=import-outside-toplevel
diff --git a/tests/test_core.py b/tests/test_core.py
index 67513ea8b17..017c8b3b607 100644
--- a/tests/test_core.py
+++ b/tests/test_core.py
@@ -925,7 +925,7 @@ async def test_serviceregistry_callback_service_raise_exception(hass):
     await hass.async_block_till_done()
 
 
-def test_config_defaults():
+async def test_config_defaults():
     """Test config defaults."""
     hass = Mock()
     config = ha.Config(hass)
@@ -950,21 +950,21 @@ def test_config_defaults():
     assert config.currency == "EUR"
 
 
-def test_config_path_with_file():
+async def test_config_path_with_file():
     """Test get_config_path method."""
     config = ha.Config(None)
     config.config_dir = "/test/ha-config"
     assert config.path("test.conf") == "/test/ha-config/test.conf"
 
 
-def test_config_path_with_dir_and_file():
+async def test_config_path_with_dir_and_file():
     """Test get_config_path method."""
     config = ha.Config(None)
     config.config_dir = "/test/ha-config"
     assert config.path("dir", "test.conf") == "/test/ha-config/dir/test.conf"
 
 
-def test_config_as_dict():
+async def test_config_as_dict():
     """Test as dict."""
     config = ha.Config(None)
     config.config_dir = "/test/ha-config"
@@ -994,7 +994,7 @@ def test_config_as_dict():
     assert expected == config.as_dict()
 
 
-def test_config_is_allowed_path():
+async def test_config_is_allowed_path():
     """Test is_allowed_path method."""
     config = ha.Config(None)
     with TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_dir:
@@ -1026,7 +1026,7 @@ def test_config_is_allowed_path():
             config.is_allowed_path(None)
 
 
-def test_config_is_allowed_external_url():
+async def test_config_is_allowed_external_url():
     """Test is_allowed_external_url method."""
     config = ha.Config(None)
     config.allowlist_external_urls = [
@@ -1273,7 +1273,7 @@ async def test_additional_data_in_core_config(hass, hass_storage):
 
 
 async def test_incorrect_internal_external_url(hass, hass_storage, caplog):
-    """Test that we warn when detecting invalid internal/extenral url."""
+    """Test that we warn when detecting invalid internal/external url."""
     config = ha.Config(hass)
 
     hass_storage[ha.CORE_STORAGE_KEY] = {
@@ -1287,6 +1287,8 @@ async def test_incorrect_internal_external_url(hass, hass_storage, caplog):
     assert "Invalid external_url set" not in caplog.text
     assert "Invalid internal_url set" not in caplog.text
 
+    config = ha.Config(hass)
+
     hass_storage[ha.CORE_STORAGE_KEY] = {
         "version": 1,
         "data": {