diff --git a/homeassistant/core.py b/homeassistant/core.py
index 6e74c8bd010..f8540ae7e70 100644
--- a/homeassistant/core.py
+++ b/homeassistant/core.py
@@ -405,6 +405,7 @@ class HomeAssistant:
         self.services = ServiceRegistry(self)
         self.states = StateMachine(self.bus, self.loop)
         self.config = Config(self, config_dir)
+        self.config.async_initialize()
         self.components = loader.Components(self)
         self.helpers = loader.Helpers(self)
         self.state: CoreState = CoreState.not_running
@@ -2600,12 +2601,12 @@ class ServiceRegistry:
 class Config:
     """Configuration settings for Home Assistant."""
 
+    _store: Config._ConfigStore
+
     def __init__(self, hass: HomeAssistant, config_dir: str) -> None:
         """Initialize a new config object."""
         self.hass = hass
 
-        self._store = self._ConfigStore(self.hass, config_dir)
-
         self.latitude: float = 0
         self.longitude: float = 0
 
@@ -2656,6 +2657,13 @@ class Config:
         # If Home Assistant is running in safe mode
         self.safe_mode: bool = False
 
+    def async_initialize(self) -> None:
+        """Finish initializing a config object.
+
+        This must be called before the config object is used.
+        """
+        self._store = self._ConfigStore(self.hass)
+
     def distance(self, lat: float, lon: float) -> float | None:
         """Calculate distance from Home Assistant.
 
@@ -2862,7 +2870,6 @@ class Config:
             "country": self.country,
             "language": self.language,
         }
-
         await self._store.async_save(data)
 
     # Circular dependency prevents us from generating the class at top level
@@ -2872,7 +2879,7 @@ class Config:
     class _ConfigStore(Store[dict[str, Any]]):
         """Class to help storing Config data."""
 
-        def __init__(self, hass: HomeAssistant, config_dir: str) -> None:
+        def __init__(self, hass: HomeAssistant) -> None:
             """Initialize storage class."""
             super().__init__(
                 hass,
@@ -2881,7 +2888,6 @@ class Config:
                 private=True,
                 atomic_writes=True,
                 minor_version=CORE_STORAGE_MINOR_VERSION,
-                config_dir=config_dir,
             )
             self._original_unit_system: str | None = None  # from old store 1.1
 
diff --git a/homeassistant/helpers/storage.py b/homeassistant/helpers/storage.py
index c2047328013..93594875ac2 100644
--- a/homeassistant/helpers/storage.py
+++ b/homeassistant/helpers/storage.py
@@ -90,9 +90,7 @@ async def async_migrator(
     return config
 
 
-def get_internal_store_manager(
-    hass: HomeAssistant, config_dir: str | None = None
-) -> _StoreManager:
+def get_internal_store_manager(hass: HomeAssistant) -> _StoreManager:
     """Get the store manager.
 
     This function is not part of the API and should only be
@@ -100,7 +98,7 @@ def get_internal_store_manager(
     guaranteed to be stable.
     """
     if STORAGE_MANAGER not in hass.data:
-        manager = _StoreManager(hass, config_dir or hass.config.config_dir)
+        manager = _StoreManager(hass)
         hass.data[STORAGE_MANAGER] = manager
     return hass.data[STORAGE_MANAGER]
 
@@ -111,13 +109,13 @@ class _StoreManager:
     The store manager is used to cache and manage storage files.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, hass: HomeAssistant, config_dir: str) -> None:
+    def __init__(self, hass: HomeAssistant) -> None:
         """Initialize storage manager class."""
         self._hass = hass
         self._invalidated: set[str] = set()
         self._files: set[str] | None = None
         self._data_preload: dict[str, json_util.JsonValueType] = {}
-        self._storage_path: Path = Path(config_dir).joinpath(STORAGE_DIR)
+        self._storage_path: Path = Path(hass.config.config_dir).joinpath(STORAGE_DIR)
         self._cancel_cleanup: asyncio.TimerHandle | None = None
 
     async def async_initialize(self) -> None:
@@ -246,7 +244,6 @@ class Store(Generic[_T]):
         encoder: type[JSONEncoder] | None = None,
         minor_version: int = 1,
         read_only: bool = False,
-        config_dir: str | None = None,
     ) -> None:
         """Initialize storage class."""
         self.version = version
@@ -263,7 +260,7 @@ class Store(Generic[_T]):
         self._atomic_writes = atomic_writes
         self._read_only = read_only
         self._next_write_time = 0.0
-        self._manager = get_internal_store_manager(hass, config_dir)
+        self._manager = get_internal_store_manager(hass)
 
     @cached_property
     def path(self):
diff --git a/tests/test_core.py b/tests/test_core.py
index a0a197096cd..905d8efe6de 100644
--- a/tests/test_core.py
+++ b/tests/test_core.py
@@ -2288,6 +2288,7 @@ async def test_additional_data_in_core_config(
 ) -> None:
     """Test that we can handle additional data in core configuration."""
     config = ha.Config(hass, "/test/ha-config")
+    config.async_initialize()
     hass_storage[ha.CORE_STORAGE_KEY] = {
         "version": 1,
         "data": {"location_name": "Test Name", "additional_valid_key": "value"},
@@ -2301,6 +2302,7 @@ async def test_incorrect_internal_external_url(
 ) -> None:
     """Test that we warn when detecting invalid internal/external url."""
     config = ha.Config(hass, "/test/ha-config")
+    config.async_initialize()
 
     hass_storage[ha.CORE_STORAGE_KEY] = {
         "version": 1,
@@ -2314,6 +2316,7 @@ async def test_incorrect_internal_external_url(
     assert "Invalid internal_url set" not in caplog.text
 
     config = ha.Config(hass, "/test/ha-config")
+    config.async_initialize()
 
     hass_storage[ha.CORE_STORAGE_KEY] = {
         "version": 1,