diff --git a/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/common/config/AbstractConfig.java b/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/common/config/AbstractConfig.java
index 8270f22b65c..9188b1687a8 100644
--- a/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/common/config/AbstractConfig.java
+++ b/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/common/config/AbstractConfig.java
@@ -109,8 +109,7 @@ public class AbstractConfig {
      */
     @SuppressWarnings({"this-escape"})
     public AbstractConfig(ConfigDef definition, Map<?, ?> originals, Map<String, ?> configProviderProps, boolean doLog) {
-        Map<String, Object> originalMap = Utils.castToStringObjectMap(originals);
-        preProcessParsedConfig(originalMap);
+        Map<String, Object> originalMap = preProcessParsedConfig(Collections.unmodifiableMap(Utils.castToStringObjectMap(originals)));
         this.originals = resolveConfigVariables(configProviderProps, originalMap);
         this.values = definition.parse(this.originals);
         Map<String, Object> configUpdates = postProcessParsedConfig(Collections.unmodifiableMap(this.values));
@@ -144,7 +143,6 @@ public class AbstractConfig {
      */
     public AbstractConfig(ConfigDef definition, Map<?, ?> originals, boolean doLog) {
         this(definition, originals, Collections.emptyMap(), doLog);
-
     }
 
     /**
@@ -155,7 +153,7 @@ public class AbstractConfig {
      * @return a map of updates that should be applied to the configuration (will be validated to prevent bad updates)
      */
     protected Map<String, Object> preProcessParsedConfig(Map<String, Object> parsedValues) {
-        return Map.of();
+        return parsedValues;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/clients/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/common/config/AbstractConfigTest.java b/clients/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/common/config/AbstractConfigTest.java
index 31ffdfb7117..8669156d7c3 100644
--- a/clients/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/common/config/AbstractConfigTest.java
+++ b/clients/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/common/config/AbstractConfigTest.java
@@ -114,6 +114,13 @@ public class AbstractConfigTest {
         assertEquals(expected, originalsWithPrefix);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testPreprocessConfig() {
+        Properties props = new Properties();
+        TestConfig config = new TestConfig(props);
+        assertEquals("success", config.get("preprocess"));
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testValuesWithPrefixOverride() {
         String prefix = "prefix.";
@@ -702,17 +709,32 @@ public class AbstractConfigTest {
 
         public static final String METRIC_REPORTER_CLASSES_CONFIG = "metric.reporters";
         private static final String METRIC_REPORTER_CLASSES_DOC = "A list of classes to use as metrics reporters.";
+        public static final String PREPROCESSOR_CONFIG = "preprocess";
+        private static final String PREPROCESSOR_CONFIG_DOC = "Override from preprocess step.";
+
         static {
             CONFIG = new ConfigDef().define(METRIC_REPORTER_CLASSES_CONFIG,
                                             Type.LIST,
                                             "",
                                             Importance.LOW,
-                                            METRIC_REPORTER_CLASSES_DOC);
+                                            METRIC_REPORTER_CLASSES_DOC)
+                                    .define(PREPROCESSOR_CONFIG,
+                                            Type.STRING,
+                                            "",
+                                            Importance.LOW,
+                                            PREPROCESSOR_CONFIG_DOC);
         }
 
         public TestConfig(Map<?, ?> props) {
             super(CONFIG, props);
         }
+
+        @Override
+        protected Map<String, Object> preProcessParsedConfig(Map<String, Object> parsedValues) {
+            Map<String, Object> ret = new HashMap<>(parsedValues);
+            ret.put("preprocess", "success");
+            return ret;
+        }
     }
 
     public static class ConfiguredFakeMetricsReporter extends FakeMetricsReporter {