diff --git a/DependencyInjection/Configuration.php b/DependencyInjection/Configuration.php
index c6596d1..1208533 100644
--- a/DependencyInjection/Configuration.php
+++ b/DependencyInjection/Configuration.php
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ final class Configuration implements ConfigurationInterface
                 ->thenInvalid('You must not use both `nelmio_api_doc.areas` and `nelmio_api_doc.routes` config options. Please update your config to only use `nelmio_api_doc.areas`.')
             ->end()
             ->children()
+                ->arrayNode('documentation')
+                    ->useAttributeAsKey('key')
+                    ->info('The documentation used as base')
+                    ->example(['info' => ['title' => 'My App']])
+                    ->prototype('variable')->end()
+                ->end()
                 ->arrayNode('areas')
                     ->info('Filter the routes that are documented')
                     ->defaultValue(['default' => ['path_patterns' => [], 'host_patterns' => [], 'documentation' => []]])
@@ -73,7 +79,8 @@ final class Configuration implements ConfigurationInterface
                             ->end()
                             ->arrayNode('documentation')
                                 ->useAttributeAsKey('key')
-                                ->info('The documentation used as base')
+                                ->defaultValue([])
+                                ->info('The documentation used for area')
                                 ->example(['info' => ['title' => 'My App']])
                                 ->prototype('variable')->end()
                             ->end()
diff --git a/DependencyInjection/NelmioApiDocExtension.php b/DependencyInjection/NelmioApiDocExtension.php
index 8f80212..4f56b03 100644
--- a/DependencyInjection/NelmioApiDocExtension.php
+++ b/DependencyInjection/NelmioApiDocExtension.php
@@ -105,15 +105,18 @@ final class NelmioApiDocExtension extends Extension implements PrependExtensionI
                 ])
                 ->addTag(sprintf('nelmio_api_doc.describer.%s', $area), ['priority' => -200]);
 
-            $container->register(sprintf('nelmio_api_doc.describers.config.%s', $area), ExternalDocDescriber::class)
-                ->setPublic(false)
-                ->setArguments([
-                    $config['areas'][$area]['documentation'],
-                    true,
-                ])
-                ->addTag(sprintf('nelmio_api_doc.describer.%s', $area), ['priority' => 1000]);
+            if (isset($config['areas'][$area]['documentation'])) {
+                $container->register(sprintf('nelmio_api_doc.describers.config.%s', $area), ExternalDocDescriber::class)
+                    ->setPublic(false)
+                    ->setArguments([
+                        $config['areas'][$area]['documentation'],
+                        true,
+                    ])
+                    ->addTag(sprintf('nelmio_api_doc.describer.%s', $area), ['priority' => 1000]);
+
+                $container->getDefinition(sprintf('nelmio_api_doc.describers.config.%s', $area))->replaceArgument(0, $config['areas'][$area]['documentation']);
+            }
 
-            $container->getDefinition(sprintf('nelmio_api_doc.describers.config.%s', $area))->replaceArgument(0, $config['areas'][$area]['documentation']);
         }
 
         $container->register('nelmio_api_doc.generator_locator')
@@ -162,6 +165,9 @@ final class NelmioApiDocExtension extends Extension implements PrependExtensionI
                     ]);
             }
         }
+
+        // Import the base configuration
+        $container->getDefinition('nelmio_api_doc.describers.config')->replaceArgument(0, $config['documentation']);
     }
 
     private function findNameAliases(array $names, string $area): array
diff --git a/Tests/DependencyInjection/NelmioApiDocExtensionTest.php b/Tests/DependencyInjection/NelmioApiDocExtensionTest.php
index 4f2714b..fd864e2 100644
--- a/Tests/DependencyInjection/NelmioApiDocExtensionTest.php
+++ b/Tests/DependencyInjection/NelmioApiDocExtensionTest.php
@@ -92,52 +92,39 @@ class NelmioApiDocExtensionTest extends TestCase
         $extension = new NelmioApiDocExtension();
         $extension->load([
             [
-                'areas' => [
-                    'default' => [
-                        'documentation' => [
-                            'info' => [
-                                'title' => 'API documentation',
-                                'description' => 'This is the api documentation, use it wisely',
-                            ],
-                        ],
-                    ]
-                ]
+                'documentation' => [
+                    'info' => [
+                        'title' => 'API documentation',
+                        'description' => 'This is the api documentation, use it wisely',
+                    ],
+                ],
             ],
             [
-                'areas' => [
-                    'default' => [
-                        'documentation' => [
-                            'tags' => [
-                                [
-                                    'name' => 'secured',
-                                    'description' => 'Requires authentication',
-                                ],
-                                [
-                                    'name' => 'another',
-                                    'description' => 'Another tag serving another purpose',
-                                ],
-                            ],
+                'documentation' => [
+                    'tags' => [
+                        [
+                            'name' => 'secured',
+                            'description' => 'Requires authentication',
+                        ],
+                        [
+                            'name' => 'another',
+                            'description' => 'Another tag serving another purpose',
                         ],
                     ],
                 ],
             ],
             [
-                'areas' => [
-                    'default' => [
-                        'documentation' => [
-                            'paths' => [
-                                '/api/v1/model' => [
-                                    'get' => [
-                                        'tags' => ['secured'],
-                                    ],
-                                ],
+                'documentation' => [
+                    'paths' => [
+                        '/api/v1/model' => [
+                            'get' => [
+                                'tags' => ['secured'],
                             ],
                         ],
                     ],
                 ],
             ],
         ], $container);
-
         $this->assertSame([
             'info' => [
                 'title' => 'API documentation',
@@ -160,6 +147,6 @@ class NelmioApiDocExtensionTest extends TestCase
                     ],
                 ],
             ],
-        ], $container->getDefinition('nelmio_api_doc.describers.config.default')->getArgument(0));
+        ], $container->getDefinition('nelmio_api_doc.describers.config')->getArgument(0));
     }
 }
diff --git a/Tests/Functional/SwaggerUiTest.php b/Tests/Functional/SwaggerUiTest.php
index 125e062..798980d 100644
--- a/Tests/Functional/SwaggerUiTest.php
+++ b/Tests/Functional/SwaggerUiTest.php
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@ class SwaggerUiTest extends WebTestCase
         $client = self::createClient();
         $crawler = $client->request('GET', '/app_dev.php/docs.json');
 
-
         $response = $client->getResponse();
         $this->assertEquals(200, $response->getStatusCode());
         $this->assertEquals('application/json', $response->headers->get('Content-Type'));
diff --git a/Tests/Functional/TestKernel.php b/Tests/Functional/TestKernel.php
index 58d6bc8..2d687c6 100644
--- a/Tests/Functional/TestKernel.php
+++ b/Tests/Functional/TestKernel.php
@@ -117,6 +117,23 @@ class TestKernel extends Kernel
 
         // Filter routes
         $c->loadFromExtension('nelmio_api_doc', [
+            'documentation' => [
+                'info' => [
+                    'title' => 'My Test App',
+                ],
+                'definitions' => [
+                    'Test' => [
+                        'type' => 'string',
+                    ],
+                ],
+                'parameters' => [
+                    'test' => [
+                        'name' => 'id',
+                        'in' => 'path',
+                        'required' => true,
+                    ],
+                ],
+            ],
            'areas' => [
                'default' => [
                    'path_patterns' => ['^/api(?!/admin)'],