diff --git a/src/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/hipscat_loading_config.py b/src/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/hipscat_loading_config.py
index e74c4c5f..1e97317a 100644
--- a/src/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/hipscat_loading_config.py
+++ b/src/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/hipscat_loading_config.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 from typing import Callable, List
 
 import pandas as pd
+from hipscat.io.file_io import FilePointer
 from pandas.io._util import _arrow_dtype_mapping
 
 from lsdb.catalog.margin_catalog import MarginCatalog
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ class HipscatLoadingConfig:
     columns: List[str] | None = None
     """Columns to load from the catalog. If not specified, all columns are loaded"""
 
-    margin_cache: MarginCatalog | str | None = None
+    margin_cache: MarginCatalog | FilePointer | None = None
     """Margin cache for the catalog. It can be provided as a path for the margin on disk,
     or as a margin object instance. By default, it is None."""
 
@@ -35,8 +36,6 @@ class HipscatLoadingConfig:
     """Extra kwargs for the pandas parquet file reader"""
 
     def __post_init__(self):
-        if self.margin_cache is not None and not isinstance(self.margin_cache, (MarginCatalog, str)):
-            raise ValueError("`margin_cache` must be of type 'MarginCatalog' or 'str'")
         if self.dtype_backend not in ["pyarrow", "numpy_nullable", None]:
             raise ValueError("The data type backend must be either 'pyarrow' or 'numpy_nullable'")
 
diff --git a/src/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/read_hipscat.py b/src/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/read_hipscat.py
index 9e4c6d69..87497993 100644
--- a/src/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/read_hipscat.py
+++ b/src/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/read_hipscat.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import hipscat as hc
 from hipscat.catalog import CatalogType
 from hipscat.catalog.dataset import BaseCatalogInfo
+from hipscat.io.file_io import FilePointer
 
 from lsdb.catalog.association_catalog import AssociationCatalog
 from lsdb.catalog.catalog import Catalog
@@ -26,11 +27,11 @@
 
 # pylint: disable=unused-argument
 def read_hipscat(
-    path: str,
+    path: FilePointer,
     catalog_type: Type[CatalogTypeVar] | None = None,
     search_filter: AbstractSearch | None = None,
     columns: List[str] | None = None,
-    margin_cache: MarginCatalog | str | None = None,
+    margin_cache: MarginCatalog | FilePointer | None = None,
     dtype_backend: str | None = "pyarrow",
     storage_options: dict | None = None,
     **kwargs,
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ def read_hipscat(
         )
 
     Args:
-        path (str): The path that locates the root of the HiPSCat catalog
+        path (FilePointer): The path that locates the root of the HiPSCat catalog
         catalog_type (Type[Dataset]): Default `None`. By default, the type of the catalog is loaded
             from the catalog info and the corresponding object type is returned. Python's type hints
             cannot allow a return type specified by a loaded value, so to use the correct return
@@ -58,8 +59,8 @@ def read_hipscat(
             the lsdb class for that catalog.
         search_filter (Type[AbstractSearch]): Default `None`. The filter method to be applied.
         columns (List[str]): Default `None`. The set of columns to filter the catalog on.
-        margin_cache (MarginCatalog | str): The margin cache for the main catalog, provided as a path
-            on disk or as an instance of the MarginCatalog object. Defaults to None.
+        margin_cache (MarginCatalog | FilePointer): The margin cache for the main catalog, provided
+            as a path on disk or as an instance of the MarginCatalog object. Defaults to None.
         dtype_backend (str): Backend data type to apply to the catalog.
             Defaults to "pyarrow". If None, no type conversion is performed.
         storage_options (dict): Dictionary that contains abstract filesystem credentials
diff --git a/src/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/read_hipscat.pyi b/src/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/read_hipscat.pyi
index 6dd574c4..96676e0c 100644
--- a/src/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/read_hipscat.pyi
+++ b/src/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/read_hipscat.pyi
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 from typing import List, Type, overload
 
+from hipscat.io.file_io import FilePointer
+
 from lsdb.catalog.dataset.dataset import Dataset
 from lsdb.catalog.margin_catalog import MarginCatalog
 from lsdb.core.search.abstract_search import AbstractSearch
@@ -22,10 +24,10 @@ from lsdb.loaders.hipscat.abstract_catalog_loader import CatalogTypeVar
 
 @overload
 def read_hipscat(
-    path: str,
+    path: FilePointer,
     search_filter: AbstractSearch | None = None,
     columns: List[str] | None = None,
-    margin_cache: MarginCatalog | str | None = None,
+    margin_cache: MarginCatalog | FilePointer | None = None,
     dtype_backend: str | None = "pyarrow",
     storage_options: dict | None = None,
     **kwargs,
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ def read_hipscat(
     catalog_type: Type[CatalogTypeVar],
     search_filter: AbstractSearch | None = None,
     columns: List[str] | None = None,
-    margin_cache: MarginCatalog | str | None = None,
+    margin_cache: MarginCatalog | FilePointer | None = None,
     dtype_backend: str | None = "pyarrow",
     storage_options: dict | None = None,
     **kwargs,
diff --git a/tests/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/test_read_hipscat.py b/tests/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/test_read_hipscat.py
index 3ec47c92..73e339b3 100644
--- a/tests/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/test_read_hipscat.py
+++ b/tests/lsdb/loaders/hipscat/test_read_hipscat.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+
 import hipscat as hc
 import numpy as np
 import numpy.testing as npt
@@ -82,6 +84,9 @@ def test_catalog_with_margin(
     # Provide the margin cache catalog path
     catalog_2 = lsdb.read_hipscat(small_sky_xmatch_dir, margin_cache=small_sky_xmatch_margin_dir)
     assert isinstance(catalog_2, lsdb.Catalog)
+    # Which can also be provided with a Path object
+    catalog_3 = lsdb.read_hipscat(small_sky_xmatch_dir, margin_cache=Path(small_sky_xmatch_margin_dir))
+    assert isinstance(catalog_3, lsdb.Catalog)
     # The catalogs obtained are identical
     assert catalog.margin.hc_structure.catalog_info == catalog_2.margin.hc_structure.catalog_info
     assert catalog.margin.get_healpix_pixels() == catalog_2.margin.get_healpix_pixels()
@@ -94,11 +99,6 @@ def test_catalog_without_margin_is_none(small_sky_xmatch_dir):
     assert catalog.margin is None
 
 
-def test_catalog_with_wrong_margin_args(small_sky_xmatch_dir):
-    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="must be of type"):
-        lsdb.read_hipscat(small_sky_xmatch_dir, margin_cache=1)
-
-
 def test_read_hipscat_subset_with_cone_search(small_sky_order1_dir, small_sky_order1_catalog):
     cone_search = ConeSearch(ra=0, dec=-80, radius_arcsec=20 * 3600)
     # Filtering using catalog's cone_search