diff --git a/doc/changes/changes_4.6.0.md b/doc/changes/changes_4.6.0.md
index a37ce33e..ddd4b6f7 100644
--- a/doc/changes/changes_4.6.0.md
+++ b/doc/changes/changes_4.6.0.md
@@ -13,4 +13,5 @@ We moved some GitHub action permissions from workflow-level to job-level.
 ## Refactoring
 
 * #546: Replaced `OsDetector` with JUnit5's `EnabledOnOs` annotation.
+* #544: Replaced optional parameter with null check
 * #543: Made `CliException` a `RuntimeException`
diff --git a/importer/tag/src/main/java/org/itsallcode/openfasttrace/importer/tag/TagImporter.java b/importer/tag/src/main/java/org/itsallcode/openfasttrace/importer/tag/TagImporter.java
index 4e0cec6b..b48ef70b 100644
--- a/importer/tag/src/main/java/org/itsallcode/openfasttrace/importer/tag/TagImporter.java
+++ b/importer/tag/src/main/java/org/itsallcode/openfasttrace/importer/tag/TagImporter.java
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Optional;
 
 import org.itsallcode.openfasttrace.api.importer.ImportEventListener;
 import org.itsallcode.openfasttrace.api.importer.Importer;
@@ -25,21 +24,21 @@ class TagImporter implements Importer
         this.file = file;
     }
 
-    static TagImporter create(final Optional<PathConfig> config, final InputFile file,
+    static TagImporter create(final PathConfig config, final InputFile file,
             final ImportEventListener listener)
     {
         final LineConsumer lineConsumer = createLineConsumer(config, file, listener);
         return new TagImporter(lineConsumer, file);
     }
 
-    private static LineConsumer createLineConsumer(final Optional<PathConfig> config,
-            final InputFile file, final ImportEventListener listener)
+    private static LineConsumer createLineConsumer(final PathConfig config, final InputFile file,
+            final ImportEventListener listener)
     {
         final List<LineConsumer> importers = new ArrayList<>();
         importers.add(new LongTagImportingLineConsumer(file, listener));
-        if (config.isPresent())
+        if (config != null)
         {
-            importers.add(new ShortTagImportingLineConsumer(config.get(), file, listener));
+            importers.add(new ShortTagImportingLineConsumer(config, file, listener));
         }
         return new DelegatingLineConsumer(importers);
     }
diff --git a/importer/tag/src/main/java/org/itsallcode/openfasttrace/importer/tag/TagImporterFactory.java b/importer/tag/src/main/java/org/itsallcode/openfasttrace/importer/tag/TagImporterFactory.java
index b3c70500..7daf0be2 100644
--- a/importer/tag/src/main/java/org/itsallcode/openfasttrace/importer/tag/TagImporterFactory.java
+++ b/importer/tag/src/main/java/org/itsallcode/openfasttrace/importer/tag/TagImporterFactory.java
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ public Importer createImporter(final InputFile path, final ImportEventListener l
                     + DEFAULT_FILE_REGEX + " and " + getPathConfigs().toList());
         }
         final Optional<PathConfig> config = findConfig(path);
-        return TagImporter.create(config, path, listener);
+        return TagImporter.create(config.orElse(null), path, listener);
     }
 
     private Stream<PathConfig> getPathConfigs()
diff --git a/importer/tag/src/test/java/org/itsallcode/openfasttrace/importer/tag/TestTagImporterWithConfig.java b/importer/tag/src/test/java/org/itsallcode/openfasttrace/importer/tag/TestTagImporterWithConfig.java
index 1f3a7c8a..17bfb1d1 100644
--- a/importer/tag/src/test/java/org/itsallcode/openfasttrace/importer/tag/TestTagImporterWithConfig.java
+++ b/importer/tag/src/test/java/org/itsallcode/openfasttrace/importer/tag/TestTagImporterWithConfig.java
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 import java.io.StringReader;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
-import java.util.Optional;
 
 import org.itsallcode.openfasttrace.api.core.SpecificationItemId;
 import org.itsallcode.openfasttrace.api.importer.ImportEventListener;
@@ -152,6 +151,6 @@ private void runImport(final String content)
         final InputFile file = StreamInput.forReader(FILE,
                 new BufferedReader(new StringReader(content)));
 
-        TagImporter.create(Optional.of(this.configMock), file, this.listenerMock).runImport();
+        TagImporter.create(this.configMock, file, this.listenerMock).runImport();
     }
 }