diff --git a/api/incubator/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/api/incubator/config/ConfigProvider.java b/api/incubator/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/api/incubator/config/ConfigProvider.java
index 62cc044e653..e155786ac5f 100644
--- a/api/incubator/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/api/incubator/config/ConfigProvider.java
+++ b/api/incubator/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/api/incubator/config/ConfigProvider.java
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 
 package io.opentelemetry.api.incubator.config;
 
+import static io.opentelemetry.api.incubator.config.DeclarativeConfigProperties.empty;
+
 import javax.annotation.Nullable;
 import javax.annotation.concurrent.ThreadSafe;
 
@@ -30,6 +32,31 @@ public interface ConfigProvider {
   @Nullable
   DeclarativeConfigProperties getInstrumentationConfig();
 
+  /**
+   * Returns the {@link DeclarativeConfigProperties} for a specific instrumentation by name. If no
+   * configuration is available for the given name, an empty {@link DeclarativeConfigProperties} is
+   * returned.
+   *
+   * @param name the name of the instrumentation
+   * @return the {@link DeclarativeConfigProperties} for the given instrumentation name
+   */
+  default DeclarativeConfigProperties getInstrumentationConfig(String name) {
+    DeclarativeConfigProperties config = getInstrumentationConfig();
+    return config == null ? empty() : config.get("java").get(name);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns the {@link DeclarativeConfigProperties} for general instrumentation configuration. If
+   * the general configuration is not available, an empty {@link DeclarativeConfigProperties} is
+   * returned.
+   *
+   * @return the {@link DeclarativeConfigProperties} for the general instrumentation configuration
+   */
+  default DeclarativeConfigProperties getGeneralInstrumentationConfig() {
+    DeclarativeConfigProperties config = getInstrumentationConfig();
+    return config == null ? empty() : config.get("general");
+  }
+
   /** Returns a no-op {@link ConfigProvider}. */
   static ConfigProvider noop() {
     return () -> null;
diff --git a/api/incubator/src/test/java/io/opentelemetry/api/incubator/ConfigProviderTest.java b/api/incubator/src/test/java/io/opentelemetry/api/incubator/ConfigProviderTest.java
index 9c9e4bf41e1..82e78abb2c7 100644
--- a/api/incubator/src/test/java/io/opentelemetry/api/incubator/ConfigProviderTest.java
+++ b/api/incubator/src/test/java/io/opentelemetry/api/incubator/ConfigProviderTest.java
@@ -17,4 +17,12 @@ void noopEquality() {
     ConfigProvider noop = ConfigProvider.noop();
     assertThat(ConfigProvider.noop()).isSameAs(noop);
   }
+
+  @Test
+  void instrumentationConfigFallback() {
+    ConfigProvider configProvider = ConfigProvider.noop();
+    assertThat(configProvider.getInstrumentationConfig()).isNull();
+    assertThat(configProvider.getInstrumentationConfig("servlet")).isNotNull();
+    assertThat(configProvider.getGeneralInstrumentationConfig()).isNotNull();
+  }
 }
diff --git a/sdk-extensions/autoconfigure/src/testIncubating/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/autoconfigure/DeclarativeConfigurationTest.java b/sdk-extensions/autoconfigure/src/testIncubating/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/autoconfigure/DeclarativeConfigurationTest.java
index 09038b40e6d..a399bab2a46 100644
--- a/sdk-extensions/autoconfigure/src/testIncubating/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/autoconfigure/DeclarativeConfigurationTest.java
+++ b/sdk-extensions/autoconfigure/src/testIncubating/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/autoconfigure/DeclarativeConfigurationTest.java
@@ -231,5 +231,16 @@ void configFile_ConfigProvider() {
     assertThat(InstrumentationConfigUtil.javaInstrumentationConfig(globalConfigProvider, "example"))
         .isNotNull()
         .satisfies(exampleConfig -> assertThat(exampleConfig.getString("key")).isEqualTo("value"));
+
+    // shortcuts to get specific instrumentation config
+    assertThat(globalConfigProvider.getInstrumentationConfig("example").getString("key"))
+        .isEqualTo("value");
+    assertThat(
+            globalConfigProvider
+                .getGeneralInstrumentationConfig()
+                .get("http")
+                .get("client")
+                .getScalarList("request_captured_headers", String.class))
+        .isEqualTo(Arrays.asList("Content-Type", "Accept"));
   }
 }