diff --git a/packages/core/test/bundling/forms_reactive/bundle.golden_symbols.json b/packages/core/test/bundling/forms_reactive/bundle.golden_symbols.json
index 4f349bcdd11..185bd53349c 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/bundling/forms_reactive/bundle.golden_symbols.json
+++ b/packages/core/test/bundling/forms_reactive/bundle.golden_symbols.json
@@ -548,9 +548,6 @@
   {
     "name": "_randomChar"
   },
-  {
-    "name": "componentDefCount"
-  },
   {
     "name": "_symbolIterator"
   },
@@ -656,6 +653,9 @@
   {
     "name": "collectStylingFromTAttrs"
   },
+  {
+    "name": "componentDefCount"
+  },
   {
     "name": "compose"
   },
@@ -1595,4 +1595,4 @@
   {
     "name": "ɵɵtext"
   }
-]
+]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/core/test/bundling/forms_template_driven/bundle.golden_symbols.json b/packages/core/test/bundling/forms_template_driven/bundle.golden_symbols.json
index be9a29f5f1e..4a829dafabb 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/bundling/forms_template_driven/bundle.golden_symbols.json
+++ b/packages/core/test/bundling/forms_template_driven/bundle.golden_symbols.json
@@ -539,9 +539,6 @@
   {
     "name": "_randomChar"
   },
-  {
-    "name": "componentDefCount"
-  },
   {
     "name": "_symbolIterator"
   },
@@ -638,6 +635,9 @@
   {
     "name": "collectStylingFromTAttrs"
   },
+  {
+    "name": "componentDefCount"
+  },
   {
     "name": "composeAsyncValidators"
   },
@@ -1583,4 +1583,4 @@
   {
     "name": "ɵɵtext"
   }
-]
+]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/forms/src/form_builder.ts b/packages/forms/src/form_builder.ts
index d27b071772e..e9bce0cab7d 100644
--- a/packages/forms/src/form_builder.ts
+++ b/packages/forms/src/form_builder.ts
@@ -52,11 +52,26 @@ export type ɵElement<T, N extends null> =
   // The `extends` checks are wrapped in arrays in order to prevent TypeScript from applying type unions
   // through the distributive conditional type. This is the officially recommended solution:
   // https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/2/conditional-types.html#distributive-conditional-types
+  //
+  // Identify FormControl container types.
   [T] extends [FormControl<infer U>] ? FormControl<U> :
+  // Or FormControl containers that are optional in their parent group.
+  [T] extends [FormControl<infer U>|undefined] ? FormControl<U> :
+  // FormGroup containers.
   [T] extends [FormGroup<infer U>] ? FormGroup<U> :
+  // Optional FormGroup containers.
+  [T] extends [FormGroup<infer U>|undefined] ? FormGroup<U> :
+  // FormArray containers.
   [T] extends [FormArray<infer U>] ? FormArray<U> :
+  // Optional FormArray containers.
+  [T] extends [FormArray<infer U>|undefined] ? FormArray<U> :
+  // Otherwise unknown AbstractControl containers.
   [T] extends [AbstractControl<infer U>] ? AbstractControl<U> :
+  // Optional AbstractControl containers.
+  [T] extends [AbstractControl<infer U>|undefined] ? AbstractControl<U> :
+  // FormControlState object container, which produces a nullable control.
   [T] extends [FormControlState<infer U>] ? FormControl<U|N> :
+  // A ControlConfig tuple, which produces a nullable control.
   [T] extends [ControlConfig<infer U>] ? FormControl<U|N> :
   // ControlConfig can be too much for the compiler to infer in the wrapped case. This is
   // not surprising, since it's practically death-by-polymorphism (e.g. the optional validators
diff --git a/packages/forms/test/typed_integration_spec.ts b/packages/forms/test/typed_integration_spec.ts
index b6a3dd24c72..21302856974 100644
--- a/packages/forms/test/typed_integration_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/forms/test/typed_integration_spec.ts
@@ -1032,6 +1032,14 @@ describe('Typed Class', () => {
         }
       });
 
+      it('from objects with optional keys', () => {
+        const controls = {name: fb.control('')};
+        const foo:
+            FormGroup<{name: FormControl<string|null>; address?: FormControl<string|null>;}> =
+                fb.group<{name: FormControl<string|null>; address?: FormControl<string|null>;}>(
+                    controls);
+      });
+
       it('from objects with FormControlState', () => {
         const c = fb.group({foo: {value: 'bar', disabled: false}});
         {