diff --git a/spacy/language.py b/spacy/language.py
index ae62f918a..a2b945c49 100644
--- a/spacy/language.py
+++ b/spacy/language.py
@@ -461,7 +461,8 @@ class Language(object):
             if hasattr(proc, 'begin_training'):
                 proc.begin_training(get_gold_tuples(),
                                     pipeline=self.pipeline,
-                                    sgd=self._optimizer)
+                                    sgd=self._optimizer,
+                                    **cfg)
         return self._optimizer
 
     def evaluate(self, docs_golds, verbose=False):
diff --git a/spacy/tests/regression/test_issue1915.py b/spacy/tests/regression/test_issue1915.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..23cf6dc73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spacy/tests/regression/test_issue1915.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# coding: utf8
+
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+from ...language import Language
+
+
+def test_simple_ner():
+    cfg = {
+        'hidden_depth': 2,  # should error out
+    }
+
+    nlp = Language()
+    nlp.add_pipe(nlp.create_pipe('ner'))
+    nlp.get_pipe('ner').add_label('answer')
+    try:
+        nlp.begin_training(**cfg)
+        assert False  # should error out
+    except ValueError:
+        assert True