diff --git a/doc/html/gres.shtml b/doc/html/gres.shtml
index 191ace61adea922c8652eecad5018f7f3c5c2d67..0fc84e68540f13ec2a54cf55f54579af710ae5e2 100644
--- a/doc/html/gres.shtml
+++ b/doc/html/gres.shtml
@@ -91,8 +91,6 @@ file.</LI>
 <LI><B>Type</B> Optionally specify the device type. For example, this might
 be used to identify a specific model of GPU, which users can then specify
 in their job request.
-Requires the use of configuration parameter <B>File</B> so that specific
-individual devices can be identified by type.
 NOTE: This is a new capability added in Slurm version 14.11.</LI>
 </UL>
 
diff --git a/doc/man/man5/gres.conf.5 b/doc/man/man5/gres.conf.5
index d655242c71f4174475a23e68c51f6f11e1a9336e..e0f57e78231ffdb624c4c91dd335ddcc4e1e548f 100644
--- a/doc/man/man5/gres.conf.5
+++ b/doc/man/man5/gres.conf.5
@@ -100,8 +100,6 @@ the example below.
 \fBType\fR
 An arbitrary string identifying the type of device.
 For example, a particular model of GPU.
-Requires the use of configuration parameter \fBFile\fR so that specific
-individual devices can be identified by type.
 
 .SH "EXAMPLES"
 .LP
diff --git a/src/common/gres.c b/src/common/gres.c
index 278e214e2f13aed7cb196fa05a57d984694624d3..e15ac527b55e38115ef24020e52a6e8b7fab5a6e 100644
--- a/src/common/gres.c
+++ b/src/common/gres.c
@@ -702,7 +702,10 @@ static int _parse_gres_config(void **dest, slurm_parser_enum_t type,
 		p->has_file = 1;
 	}
 
-	(void) s_p_get_string(&p->type, "Type", tbl);
+	if (s_p_get_string(&p->type, "Type", tbl) && !p->file) {
+		p->file = xstrdup("/dev/null");
+		p->has_file = 1;
+	}
 
 	if (s_p_get_string(&tmp_str, "Count", tbl)) {
 		tmp_long = strtol(tmp_str, &last, 10);
@@ -785,7 +788,7 @@ static void _validate_config(slurm_gres_context_t *context_ptr)
 {
 	ListIterator iter;
 	gres_slurmd_conf_t *gres_slurmd_conf;
-	int has_file = -1, rec_count = 0;
+	int has_file = -1, has_type = -1, rec_count = 0;
 
 	iter = list_iterator_create(gres_conf_list);
 	while ((gres_slurmd_conf = (gres_slurmd_conf_t *) list_next(iter))) {
@@ -800,7 +803,15 @@ static void _validate_config(slurm_gres_context_t *context_ptr)
 			      "specification while others do not",
 			      context_ptr->gres_name);
 		}
-		if ((has_file == 0) && (rec_count > 1)) {
+		if (has_type == -1) {
+			has_type = (int) (gres_slurmd_conf->type != NULL);
+		} else if (( has_type && !gres_slurmd_conf->type) ||
+			   (!has_type &&  gres_slurmd_conf->type)) {
+			fatal("gres.conf for %s, some records have Type "
+			      "specification while others do not",
+			      context_ptr->gres_name);
+		}
+		if ((has_file == 0) && (has_type == 0) && (rec_count > 1)) {
 			fatal("gres.conf duplicate records for %s",
 			      context_ptr->gres_name);
 		}