diff --git a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/utilities/config.py b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/utilities/config.py
index 95a542c5ec..292140ece2 100644
--- a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/utilities/config.py
+++ b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/utilities/config.py
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ def process_config(
     Returns:
         The updated values dictionary.
     """
+    # Handle non-dict inputs gracefully - let Pydantic handle type validation downstream
+    if not isinstance(values, dict):
+        return values
+
     config = values.get("config", {})
     if not config:
         return values
diff --git a/lib/crewai/tests/utilities/test_config.py b/lib/crewai/tests/utilities/test_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1367bdeb5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/crewai/tests/utilities/test_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+"""Tests for the config utility functions."""
+
+import unittest
+from unittest.mock import Mock
+from typing import Any
+
+from crewai.utilities.config import process_config
+
+
+class MockBaseModel:
+    """Mock BaseModel for testing purposes."""
+    model_fields = {"test_field": "field_info"}
+
+
+class TestProcessConfig(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Test cases for the process_config function."""
+
+    def test_process_config_with_dict_input(self):
+        """Test that process_config works correctly with dict input (normal case)."""
+        values = {
+            "test_field": "original_value",
+            "config": {"other_field": "config_value"}
+        }
+        
+        result = process_config(values, MockBaseModel)
+        
+        # Should process normally and return a dict
+        self.assertIsInstance(result, dict)
+        self.assertIn("test_field", result)
+        self.assertEqual(result["test_field"], "original_value")
+        # Config should be removed after processing
+        self.assertNotIn("config", result)
+
+    def test_process_config_with_empty_dict(self):
+        """Test that process_config works with empty dict."""
+        values = {}
+        
+        result = process_config(values, MockBaseModel)
+        
+        self.assertIsInstance(result, dict)
+        self.assertEqual(result, {})
+
+    def test_process_config_with_string_input(self):
+        """Test that process_config handles string input gracefully (fixes #4419)."""
+        # This was the original bug - passing a string would cause AttributeError
+        string_input = "not_an_agent"
+        
+        result = process_config(string_input, MockBaseModel)
+        
+        # Should return the input unchanged when it's not a dict
+        self.assertEqual(result, "not_an_agent")
+        self.assertIsInstance(result, str)
+
+    def test_process_config_with_none_input(self):
+        """Test that process_config handles None input gracefully."""
+        result = process_config(None, MockBaseModel)
+        
+        # Should return None unchanged
+        self.assertIsNone(result)
+
+    def test_process_config_with_list_input(self):
+        """Test that process_config handles list input gracefully."""
+        list_input = ["item1", "item2"]
+        
+        result = process_config(list_input, MockBaseModel)
+        
+        # Should return the list unchanged
+        self.assertEqual(result, list_input)
+        self.assertIsInstance(result, list)
+
+    def test_process_config_with_int_input(self):
+        """Test that process_config handles integer input gracefully."""
+        int_input = 42
+        
+        result = process_config(int_input, MockBaseModel)
+        
+        # Should return the integer unchanged
+        self.assertEqual(result, 42)
+        self.assertIsInstance(result, int)
+
+    def test_process_config_with_custom_object(self):
+        """Test that process_config handles custom object input gracefully."""
+        custom_obj = Mock()
+        
+        result = process_config(custom_obj, MockBaseModel)
+        
+        # Should return the object unchanged
+        self.assertEqual(result, custom_obj)
+
+    def test_original_bug_reproduction(self):
+        """Test that the original bug from #4419 is fixed.
+        
+        The original bug was:
+        AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'get'
+        
+        This happened when Task(agent="string") was passed because
+        process_config was called with the string value and tried
+        to call .get() on it.
+        """
+        # This would have crashed before the fix
+        problematic_inputs = [
+            "not_an_agent",
+            42,
+            [],
+            None,
+            Mock(),
+        ]
+        
+        for problematic_input in problematic_inputs:
+            with self.subTest(input_type=type(problematic_input).__name__):
+                # Should not raise AttributeError about .get()
+                try:
+                    result = process_config(problematic_input, MockBaseModel)
+                    # Should return the input unchanged for non-dict types
+                    self.assertEqual(result, problematic_input)
+                except AttributeError as e:
+                    if "has no attribute 'get'" in str(e):
+                        self.fail(f"Original bug still present for {type(problematic_input).__name__}: {e}")
+                    else:
+                        # Other AttributeErrors might be legitimate
+                        raise
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()
\ No newline at end of file