diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/1307-botocore-configs.yml b/changelogs/fragments/1307-botocore-configs.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3a2481f9f58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/1307-botocore-configs.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+minor_changes:
+- module_utils/botocore - added support to ``_boto3_conn`` for passing dictionaries of configuration (https://github.com/ansible-collections/amazon.aws/pull/1307).
diff --git a/plugins/module_utils/botocore.py b/plugins/module_utils/botocore.py
index d9c418ff025..1da09d44c7c 100644
--- a/plugins/module_utils/botocore.py
+++ b/plugins/module_utils/botocore.py
@@ -79,6 +79,18 @@ def boto3_conn(module, conn_type=None, resource=None, region=None, endpoint=None
                          "environment variables or module parameters" % module._name)
 
 
+def _merge_botocore_config(config_a, config_b):
+    """
+    Merges the extra configuration options from config_b into config_a.
+    Supports both botocore.config.Config objects and dicts
+    """
+    if not config_b:
+        return config_a
+    if not isinstance(config_b, botocore.config.Config):
+        config_b = botocore.config.Config(**config_b)
+    return config_a.merge(config_b)
+
+
 def _boto3_conn(conn_type=None, resource=None, region=None, endpoint=None, **params):
     """
     Builds a boto3 resource/client connection cleanly wrapping the most common failures.
@@ -96,10 +108,8 @@ def _boto3_conn(conn_type=None, resource=None, region=None, endpoint=None, **par
         user_agent_extra='Ansible/{0}'.format(__version__),
     )
 
-    if params.get('config') is not None:
-        config = config.merge(params.pop('config'))
-    if params.get('aws_config') is not None:
-        config = config.merge(params.pop('aws_config'))
+    for param in ("config", "aws_config"):
+        config = _merge_botocore_config(config, params.pop(param, None))
 
     session = boto3.session.Session(
         profile_name=profile,
diff --git a/tests/unit/module_utils/botocore/test_merge_botocore_config.py b/tests/unit/module_utils/botocore/test_merge_botocore_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2adefd7835c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/module_utils/botocore/test_merge_botocore_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+# (c) 2022 Red Hat Inc.
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+# GNU General Public License v3.0+ (see COPYING or https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt)
+
+import pprint
+import pytest
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock
+from unittest.mock import sentinel
+from unittest.mock import call
+
+try:
+    import botocore
+except ImportError:
+    # Handled by HAS_BOTO3
+    pass
+
+import ansible_collections.amazon.aws.plugins.module_utils.botocore as utils_botocore
+from ansible_collections.amazon.aws.plugins.module_utils.exceptions import AnsibleBotocoreError
+
+MINIMAL_CONFIG = {
+    "user_agent_extra": "Ansible/unit-test",
+}
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def basic_config():
+    config = botocore.config.Config(**MINIMAL_CONFIG)
+    return config
+
+
+def test_none_config(monkeypatch, basic_config):
+    original_options = basic_config._user_provided_options.copy()
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(basic_config, "merge", MagicMock(name="merge"))
+    updated_config = utils_botocore._merge_botocore_config(basic_config, None)
+    assert not basic_config.merge.called
+    assert basic_config._user_provided_options == original_options
+    assert updated_config._user_provided_options == original_options
+
+
+def test_botocore_config(basic_config):
+    original_options = basic_config._user_provided_options.copy()
+    config_b = botocore.config.Config(parameter_validation=False)
+    updated_config = utils_botocore._merge_botocore_config(basic_config, config_b)
+
+    assert basic_config._user_provided_options == original_options
+    assert not updated_config._user_provided_options == original_options
+    assert updated_config._user_provided_options.get("parameter_validation") is False
+    assert updated_config._user_provided_options.get("user_agent_extra") == "Ansible/unit-test"
+
+    config_c = botocore.config.Config(user_agent_extra="Ansible/unit-test Updated")
+    updated_config = utils_botocore._merge_botocore_config(updated_config, config_c)
+    assert updated_config._user_provided_options.get("parameter_validation") is False
+    assert updated_config._user_provided_options.get("user_agent_extra") == "Ansible/unit-test Updated"
+
+
+def test_botocore_dict(basic_config):
+    original_options = basic_config._user_provided_options.copy()
+    config_b = dict(parameter_validation=False)
+    updated_config = utils_botocore._merge_botocore_config(basic_config, config_b)
+
+    assert basic_config._user_provided_options == original_options
+    assert not updated_config._user_provided_options == original_options
+    assert updated_config._user_provided_options.get("parameter_validation") is False
+    assert updated_config._user_provided_options.get("user_agent_extra") == "Ansible/unit-test"
+
+    config_c = dict(user_agent_extra="Ansible/unit-test Updated")
+    updated_config = utils_botocore._merge_botocore_config(updated_config, config_c)
+    assert updated_config._user_provided_options.get("parameter_validation") is False
+    assert updated_config._user_provided_options.get("user_agent_extra") == "Ansible/unit-test Updated"