diff --git a/qutebrowser/api/config.py b/qutebrowser/api/config.py
index ad0338dd2..c2831de40 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/api/config.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/api/config.py
@@ -21,11 +21,15 @@
 
 import typing
 
-MYPY = False
-if MYPY:
-    # pylint: disable=unused-import,useless-suppression
-    from qutebrowser.config import config
+from PyQt5.QtCore import QUrl
+
+from qutebrowser.config import config
 # pylint: disable=unused-import
 from qutebrowser.config.config import change_filter
 
 val = typing.cast('config.ConfigContainer', None)
+
+
+def get(name: str, url: QUrl = None) -> typing.Any:
+    """Get a value from the config based on a string name."""
+    return config.instance.get(name, url)
diff --git a/qutebrowser/components/adblock.py b/qutebrowser/components/adblock.py
index 77e7a7694..492acb0a8 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/components/adblock.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/components/adblock.py
@@ -112,8 +112,8 @@ class HostBlocker:
         """Check if the given URL (as QUrl) is blocked."""
         if first_party_url is not None and not first_party_url.isValid():
             first_party_url = None
-        if not config.instance.get('content.host_blocking.enabled',
-                                   url=first_party_url):
+        if not config.get('content.host_blocking.enabled',
+                          url=first_party_url):
             return False
 
         host = url.host()