diff --git a/i18n/messages/en.json b/i18n/messages/en.json
index 74fa11de..7a644ba8 100644
--- a/i18n/messages/en.json
+++ b/i18n/messages/en.json
@@ -464,6 +464,11 @@
     "description": "Values table: accessible label to remove an option",
     "originalDefault": "Remove"
   },
+  "ISVTEk": {
+    "defaultMessage": "The component type <code>{type}</code> is unknown. We can only display the JSON definition.",
+    "description": "Informational message about unsupported component",
+    "originalDefault": "The component type <code>{type}</code> is unknown. We can only display the JSON definition."
+  },
   "JDYF2q": {
     "defaultMessage": "The data entered in this component will be removed in accordance with the privacy settings.",
     "description": "Tooltip for 'IsSensitiveData' builder field",
diff --git a/i18n/messages/nl.json b/i18n/messages/nl.json
index 941de639..8367cd31 100644
--- a/i18n/messages/nl.json
+++ b/i18n/messages/nl.json
@@ -470,6 +470,11 @@
     "description": "Values table: accessible label to remove an option",
     "originalDefault": "Remove"
   },
+  "ISVTEk": {
+    "defaultMessage": "The component type <code>{type}</code> is unknown. We can only display the JSON definition.",
+    "description": "Informational message about unsupported component",
+    "originalDefault": "The component type <code>{type}</code> is unknown. We can only display the JSON definition."
+  },
   "JDYF2q": {
     "defaultMessage": "Gegevens opgevoerd in dit component worden geschoond volgens de privacy-instellingen.",
     "description": "Tooltip for 'IsSensitiveData' builder field",
diff --git a/src/components/ComponentConfiguration.stories.tsx b/src/components/ComponentConfiguration.stories.tsx
index c30a33cc..8b4e5c8e 100644
--- a/src/components/ComponentConfiguration.stories.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ComponentConfiguration.stories.tsx
@@ -137,6 +137,25 @@ export const Default: Story = {
   },
 };
 
+export const UnsupportedComponent: Story = {
+  render: Template,
+  name: 'invalid/unsupported component type',
+
+  args: {
+    component: {
+      // @ts-expect-error
+      type: 'an-invalid-type',
+    },
+    builderInfo: {
+      title: 'invalid',
+      group: 'basic',
+      icon: 'terminal',
+      schema: {placeholder: ''},
+      weight: 0,
+    },
+  },
+};
+
 export const TextField: Story = {
   render: Template,
   name: 'type: textfield',
diff --git a/src/components/ComponentConfiguration.tsx b/src/components/ComponentConfiguration.tsx
index 20780ef5..eca05a25 100644
--- a/src/components/ComponentConfiguration.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ComponentConfiguration.tsx
@@ -1,8 +1,16 @@
+import {JSONEditor} from '@open-formulieren/monaco-json-editor';
+import {FallbackSchema} from '@open-formulieren/types';
+import {FormattedMessage} from 'react-intl';
+
 import {BuilderContext, BuilderContextType} from '@/context';
+import {isKnownComponentType} from '@/registry';
 
 import ComponentEditForm, {ComponentEditFormProps} from './ComponentEditForm';
 
-export interface ComponentConfigurationProps extends BuilderContextType, ComponentEditFormProps {}
+type MergedProps = BuilderContextType & ComponentEditFormProps;
+export type ComponentConfigurationProps = Omit<MergedProps, 'component'> & {
+  component: MergedProps['component'] | FallbackSchema;
+};
 
 /**
  * The main entrypoint to edit a component in the builder modal.
@@ -42,34 +50,65 @@ const ComponentConfiguration: React.FC<ComponentConfigurationProps> = ({
   onCancel,
   onRemove,
   onSubmit,
-}) => (
-  <BuilderContext.Provider
-    value={{
-      uniquifyKey,
-      supportedLanguageCodes,
-      richTextColors,
-      theme,
-      getFormComponents,
-      getValidatorPlugins,
-      getRegistrationAttributes,
-      getPrefillPlugins,
-      getPrefillAttributes,
-      getFileTypes,
-      serverUploadLimit,
-      getDocumentTypes,
-      getConfidentialityLevels,
-      getAuthPlugins,
-    }}
-  >
-    <ComponentEditForm
-      isNew={isNew}
-      component={component}
-      builderInfo={builderInfo}
-      onCancel={onCancel}
-      onRemove={onRemove}
-      onSubmit={onSubmit}
+}) => {
+  if (!isKnownComponentType(component)) {
+    return <Fallback theme={theme} component={component} />;
+  }
+  return (
+    <BuilderContext.Provider
+      value={{
+        uniquifyKey,
+        supportedLanguageCodes,
+        richTextColors,
+        theme,
+        getFormComponents,
+        getValidatorPlugins,
+        getRegistrationAttributes,
+        getPrefillPlugins,
+        getPrefillAttributes,
+        getFileTypes,
+        serverUploadLimit,
+        getDocumentTypes,
+        getConfidentialityLevels,
+        getAuthPlugins,
+      }}
+    >
+      <ComponentEditForm
+        isNew={isNew}
+        component={component}
+        builderInfo={builderInfo}
+        onCancel={onCancel}
+        onRemove={onRemove}
+        onSubmit={onSubmit}
+      />
+    </BuilderContext.Provider>
+  );
+};
+
+interface FallbackProps {
+  component: FallbackSchema;
+  theme: BuilderContextType['theme'];
+}
+
+const Fallback: React.FC<FallbackProps> = ({component, theme}) => (
+  <>
+    <FormattedMessage
+      tagName="p"
+      description="Informational message about unsupported component"
+      defaultMessage="The component type <code>{type}</code> is unknown. We can only display the JSON definition."
+      values={{
+        type: component.type ?? '-',
+        code: chunks => <code>{chunks}</code>,
+      }}
+    />
+    <JSONEditor
+      wrapperProps={{className: 'json-editor'}}
+      value={component}
+      onChange={() => alert('Editing is not possible in unknown components.')}
+      theme={theme}
+      readOnly
     />
-  </BuilderContext.Provider>
+  </>
 );
 
 export default ComponentConfiguration;
diff --git a/src/components/ComponentEditForm.tsx b/src/components/ComponentEditForm.tsx
index f3a57b4d..633e1131 100644
--- a/src/components/ComponentEditForm.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ComponentEditForm.tsx
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import {AnyComponentSchema} from '@open-formulieren/types';
 import {Form, Formik} from 'formik';
 import {ExtendedComponentSchema} from 'formiojs/types/components/schema';
 import {cloneDeep, merge} from 'lodash';
@@ -6,8 +7,7 @@ import {FormattedMessage, useIntl} from 'react-intl';
 import {toFormikValidationSchema} from 'zod-formik-adapter';
 
 import {BuilderContext} from '@/context';
-import {Fallback, getRegistryEntry, isKnownComponentType} from '@/registry';
-import {AnyComponentSchema, FallbackSchema} from '@/types';
+import {getRegistryEntry} from '@/registry';
 
 import GenericComponentPreview from './ComponentPreview';
 
@@ -22,13 +22,11 @@ export interface BuilderInfo {
 
 export interface ComponentEditFormProps {
   isNew: boolean;
-  // it is (currently) possible someone drags a component type into the canvas that we
-  // don't know (yet), so we need to handle FallbackSchema.
-  component: AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema;
+  component: AnyComponentSchema;
   builderInfo: BuilderInfo;
   onCancel: (e: React.MouseEvent<HTMLButtonElement>) => void;
   onRemove: (e: React.MouseEvent<HTMLButtonElement>) => void;
-  onSubmit: (component: AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema) => void;
+  onSubmit: (component: AnyComponentSchema) => void;
 }
 
 type ButtonRowProps = Pick<ComponentEditFormProps, 'onCancel' | 'onRemove'> & {
@@ -76,7 +74,7 @@ const ComponentEditForm: React.FC<ComponentEditFormProps> = ({
   const hasPreview = registryEntry.preview !== null;
 
   let initialValues = cloneDeep(component);
-  if (isNew && isKnownComponentType(component)) {
+  if (isNew) {
     // Formio.js mutates components when adding children (like fieldset layout component),
     // which apparently goes all the way to our default value definition, which is
     // supposed to be static.
@@ -86,17 +84,12 @@ const ComponentEditForm: React.FC<ComponentEditFormProps> = ({
     initialValues = merge(defaultValues, initialValues);
   }
 
-  // we infer the specific schema from the EditForm component obtained from the registry.
-  // This gives a specific schema rather than AnyComponentSchema and allows us to type
-  // check the values accordingly.
-  type ComponentSchema = React.ComponentProps<typeof EditForm>['component'];
-
   const Wrapper = hasPreview ? LayoutWithPreview : LayoutWithoutPreview;
 
   // Markup (mostly) taken from formio's default templates - there's room for improvement here
   // to de-bootstrapify it.
   return (
-    <Formik<ComponentSchema>
+    <Formik<typeof component>
       validateOnChange={false}
       validateOnBlur
       initialValues={initialValues}
@@ -148,11 +141,7 @@ const ComponentEditForm: React.FC<ComponentEditFormProps> = ({
                   <div className="formio-component formio-component-label-hidden">
                     <div className="formio-form">
                       <div className="formio-component-tabs">
-                        {isKnownComponentType(component) ? (
-                          <EditForm component={component} />
-                        ) : (
-                          <Fallback.edit component={component} />
-                        )}
+                        <EditForm component={component} />
                       </div>
                     </div>
                   </div>
@@ -175,8 +164,8 @@ const ComponentEditForm: React.FC<ComponentEditFormProps> = ({
 type EditFormLayoutProps = PropsWithChildren<
   Pick<ComponentEditFormProps, 'onCancel' | 'onRemove'> & {
     onSubmit: () => void;
-    onComponentChange: (value: AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema) => void;
-    component: AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema;
+    onComponentChange: (value: AnyComponentSchema) => void;
+    component: AnyComponentSchema;
   }
 >;
 
diff --git a/src/components/ComponentPreview.stories.tsx b/src/components/ComponentPreview.stories.tsx
index 417010a9..3663e9dc 100644
--- a/src/components/ComponentPreview.stories.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ComponentPreview.stories.tsx
@@ -14,38 +14,6 @@ const Template: StoryFn<typeof ComponentPreview> = ({component}) => (
   <ComponentPreview onComponentChange={fn()} component={component} />
 );
 
-export const Default: Story = {
-  render: Template,
-
-  args: {
-    component: {
-      id: 'foo',
-      type: 'textfield',
-      label: 'A text field',
-      validate: {
-        required: false,
-      },
-    },
-  },
-};
-
-export const Fallback: Story = {
-  render: Template,
-
-  args: {
-    component: {
-      id: 'fallback',
-      // should never accidentally be an actual type
-      type: '85230383-896e-40ce-a1a9-35a090b73f17',
-    } as any,
-  },
-
-  play: async ({canvasElement}) => {
-    const canvas = within(canvasElement);
-    await canvas.findByTestId('jsonPreview');
-  },
-};
-
 export const TextField: Story = {
   render: Template,
 
@@ -141,6 +109,7 @@ export const Email: Story = {
       label: 'Email preview',
       description: 'A preview of the email Formio component',
       hidden: true, // must be ignored
+      validateOn: 'blur',
     },
   },
 
@@ -174,6 +143,7 @@ export const EmailMultiple: Story = {
       description: 'Description only once',
       hidden: true, // must be ignored
       multiple: true,
+      validateOn: 'blur',
     },
   },
 
diff --git a/src/components/ComponentPreview.tsx b/src/components/ComponentPreview.tsx
index 72b71c86..75941988 100644
--- a/src/components/ComponentPreview.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ComponentPreview.tsx
@@ -5,19 +5,19 @@ import React, {useContext, useState} from 'react';
 import {FormattedMessage} from 'react-intl';
 
 import {BuilderContext} from '@/context';
-import {Fallback, getRegistryEntry, isKnownComponentType} from '@/registry';
-import {AnyComponentSchema, FallbackSchema, hasOwnProperty} from '@/types';
+import {getRegistryEntry} from '@/registry';
+import {AnyComponentSchema, hasOwnProperty} from '@/types';
 
 /*
   Generic preview (preview + wrapper with view mode)
  */
 
 export interface ComponentPreviewWrapperProps {
-  component: AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema;
+  component: AnyComponentSchema;
   /** Initial values for the preview component, e.g. `{"componentKey": "some_value"}` */
   initialValues: Record<string, unknown>;
   /** Handler to be called when the component JSON definition changes */
-  onComponentChange: (value: AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema) => void;
+  onComponentChange: (value: AnyComponentSchema) => void;
   children: React.ReactNode;
 }
 
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ const ComponentPreviewWrapper: React.FC<ComponentPreviewWrapperProps> = ({
 };
 
 export interface GenericComponentPreviewProps {
-  component: AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema;
-  onComponentChange: (value: AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema) => void;
+  component: AnyComponentSchema;
+  onComponentChange: (value: AnyComponentSchema) => void;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ const GenericComponentPreview: React.FC<GenericComponentPreviewProps> = ({
   component,
   onComponentChange,
 }) => {
-  const key = isKnownComponentType(component) ? component.key : '';
+  const {key} = component;
   const entry = getRegistryEntry(component);
   const {preview: PreviewComponent, defaultValue = ''} = entry;
   if (PreviewComponent === null) {
@@ -109,11 +109,7 @@ const GenericComponentPreview: React.FC<GenericComponentPreviewProps> = ({
       component={component}
       initialValues={initialValues}
     >
-      {isKnownComponentType(component) ? (
-        <PreviewComponent component={component} />
-      ) : (
-        <Fallback.preview component={component} />
-      )}
+      <PreviewComponent component={component} />
     </ComponentPreviewWrapper>
   );
 };
diff --git a/src/components/builder/simple-conditional.tsx b/src/components/builder/simple-conditional.tsx
index 997d7581..db6188fa 100644
--- a/src/components/builder/simple-conditional.tsx
+++ b/src/components/builder/simple-conditional.tsx
@@ -1,14 +1,16 @@
+import {AnyComponentSchema} from '@open-formulieren/types';
 import {useFormikContext} from 'formik';
-import {ExtendedComponentSchema, Utils as FormioUtils} from 'formiojs';
+import {Utils as FormioUtils} from 'formiojs';
 import type {ConditionalOptions} from 'formiojs';
 import {useContext, useEffect} from 'react';
 import {FormattedMessage} from 'react-intl';
 import usePrevious from 'react-use/esm/usePrevious';
 
+import {TextField} from '@/components/formio/textfield';
 import {BuilderContext} from '@/context';
 import {getRegistryEntry} from '@/registry';
-import Fallback from '@/registry/fallback';
 import {ComparisonValueProps} from '@/registry/types';
+import {hasOwnProperty} from '@/types';
 
 import {Panel, Select} from '../formio';
 import ComponentSelect from './component-select';
@@ -22,7 +24,7 @@ export const ComparisonValueInput: React.FC = () => {
   const {values, setFieldValue} = useFormikContext<SimpleConditional>();
 
   const componentKey = values?.conditional?.when;
-  const chosenComponent: ExtendedComponentSchema = componentKey
+  const chosenComponent: AnyComponentSchema = componentKey
     ? FormioUtils.getComponent(getFormComponents(), componentKey, false)
     : null;
   const previousWhen = usePrevious(componentKey);
@@ -43,7 +45,7 @@ export const ComparisonValueInput: React.FC = () => {
 
   const registryEntry = getRegistryEntry(chosenComponent);
   const {comparisonValue} = registryEntry;
-  const InputComponent = comparisonValue || Fallback.comparisonValue;
+  const InputComponent = comparisonValue || TextField;
 
   const props: ComparisonValueProps = {
     name: 'conditional.eq',
@@ -54,7 +56,10 @@ export const ComparisonValueInput: React.FC = () => {
       />
     ),
   };
-  if (chosenComponent.hasOwnProperty('multiple')) props.multiple = chosenComponent.multiple;
+
+  if (hasOwnProperty(chosenComponent, 'multiple')) {
+    props.multiple = chosenComponent.multiple as boolean;
+  }
 
   return <InputComponent {...props} />;
 };
diff --git a/src/registry/fallback/index.tsx b/src/registry/fallback/index.tsx
deleted file mode 100644
index 6cca14d6..00000000
--- a/src/registry/fallback/index.tsx
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
-import {ComponentSchema} from 'formiojs';
-import {z} from 'zod';
-
-import JSONPreview from '@/components/JSONPreview';
-import {TextField} from '@/components/formio/textfield';
-import {FallbackSchema} from '@/types';
-
-import {EditFormDefinition, RegistryEntry} from '../types';
-
-const EditForm: EditFormDefinition<FallbackSchema> = ({component: {type = 'unknown'}}) => (
-  <div>Unknown component type: {type}</div>
-);
-EditForm.defaultValues = {};
-
-export interface ComponentPreviewProps {
-  component: ComponentSchema;
-}
-
-const Preview: React.FC<ComponentPreviewProps> = ({component}) => <JSONPreview data={component} />;
-
-const Fallback = {
-  edit: EditForm,
-  editSchema: () => z.object({}),
-  preview: Preview,
-  defaultValue: undefined,
-  comparisonValue: TextField,
-} satisfies RegistryEntry<FallbackSchema>;
-
-export default Fallback;
diff --git a/src/registry/index.tsx b/src/registry/index.tsx
index 422a7c29..f8916c6a 100644
--- a/src/registry/index.tsx
+++ b/src/registry/index.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-import {AnyComponentSchema, FallbackSchema, hasOwnProperty} from '@/types';
+import type {AnyComponentSchema, FallbackSchema} from '@open-formulieren/types';
+
+import {hasOwnProperty} from '@/types';
 
 import AddressNL from './addressNL';
 import BSN from './bsn';
@@ -12,7 +14,6 @@ import DateField from './date';
 import DateTimeField from './datetime';
 import EditGrid from './editgrid';
 import Email from './email';
-import Fallback from './fallback';
 import FieldSet from './fieldset';
 import FileUpload from './file';
 import Iban from './iban';
@@ -32,18 +33,24 @@ import TextField from './textfield';
 import TimeField from './time';
 import {Registry, RegistryEntry} from './types';
 
+/**
+ * Type guard to determine if the passed in 'component' is something we have type
+ * definitions for.
+ *
+ * Use this check as high as possible, so that all other child components and
+ * functionality do not need to worry about `FallbackSchema`.
+ */
 export const isKnownComponentType = (
   component: AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema
 ): component is AnyComponentSchema => {
   return Boolean(component.type && hasOwnProperty(REGISTRY, component.type));
 };
 
-export const getRegistryEntry = <S extends AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema>(component: S) => {
-  if (isKnownComponentType(component)) {
-    const entry = REGISTRY[component.type];
-    return entry as RegistryEntry<AnyComponentSchema>;
-  }
-  return Fallback;
+export const getRegistryEntry = (
+  component: AnyComponentSchema
+): RegistryEntry<AnyComponentSchema> => {
+  const entry = REGISTRY[component.type];
+  return entry;
 };
 
 const REGISTRY: Registry = {
@@ -81,5 +88,4 @@ const REGISTRY: Registry = {
   password: Password,
 };
 
-export {Fallback};
 export default REGISTRY;
diff --git a/src/registry/types.ts b/src/registry/types.ts
index 381aa5fe..36caf657 100644
--- a/src/registry/types.ts
+++ b/src/registry/types.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
+import {AnyComponentSchema} from '@open-formulieren/types';
 import {IntlShape} from 'react-intl';
 import {z} from 'zod';
 
 import {BuilderContextType} from '@/context';
-import {AnyComponentSchema, FallbackSchema} from '@/types';
 
 // Edit form
 
@@ -11,17 +11,18 @@ export interface EditFormProps<S> {
 }
 
 export interface EditFormDefinition<S> extends React.FC<EditFormProps<S>> {
-  defaultValues: S extends AnyComponentSchema ? Omit<S, 'id' | 'type'> : FallbackSchema;
+  // the ternary is a trick to force typescript to distribute unions inside S - otherwise
+  // it will operate on the intersection of the union and it loses type information
+  // for specific schemas
+  defaultValues: S extends AnyComponentSchema ? Omit<S, 'id' | 'type'> : never;
 }
 
 // Component preview
-export interface ComponentPreviewProps<S extends AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema> {
+export interface ComponentPreviewProps<S extends AnyComponentSchema> {
   component: S;
 }
 
-export type Preview<S extends AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema> = React.FC<
-  ComponentPreviewProps<S>
->;
+export type Preview<S extends AnyComponentSchema> = React.FC<ComponentPreviewProps<S>>;
 
 export interface EditSchemaArgs {
   intl: IntlShape;
@@ -32,13 +33,13 @@ export type EditSchema = (args: EditSchemaArgs) => z.ZodFirstPartySchemaTypes;
 
 export interface ComparisonValueProps {
   name: string;
-  label: string | React.ReactNode;
+  label: React.ReactNode;
   multiple?: boolean;
 }
 
 // Registry entry
 
-export interface RegistryEntry<S extends AnyComponentSchema | FallbackSchema> {
+export interface RegistryEntry<S extends AnyComponentSchema> {
   edit: EditFormDefinition<S>;
   editSchema: EditSchema;
   preview: Preview<S> | null;
diff --git a/src/types/schemas.ts b/src/types/schemas.ts
index 4f4e377e..8503de89 100644
--- a/src/types/schemas.ts
+++ b/src/types/schemas.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 /**
  * Open Forms specific Formio component schema extensions.
  */
-export type {AnyComponentSchema, FallbackSchema} from '@open-formulieren/types';
+export type {AnyComponentSchema} from '@open-formulieren/types';