diff --git a/draccus/wrappers/choice_wrapper.py b/draccus/wrappers/choice_wrapper.py
index df7c297..be1ddc7 100644
--- a/draccus/wrappers/choice_wrapper.py
+++ b/draccus/wrappers/choice_wrapper.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 from ..choice_types import CHOICE_TYPE_KEY, ChoiceType
 from ..parsers.decoding import has_custom_decoder
-from ..utils import canonicalize_union, is_union
+from ..utils import canonicalize_union, is_choice_type, is_union
 from . import FieldWrapper, docstring
 from .wrapper import AggregateWrapper, Wrapper
 
@@ -237,12 +237,14 @@ def _wrap_child(child: Type) -> Optional[Wrapper]:
                 )
                 field.required = False
                 return field
+            elif is_choice_type(child):
+                return ChoiceWrapper(
+                    child, name=self.name, parent=self.parent, _field=self._field, preferred_help=self.preferred_help
+                )
             elif dataclasses.is_dataclass(child):
                 return DataclassWrapper(
                     child, name=self.name, parent=self.parent, _field=self._field, preferred_help=self.preferred_help
                 )
-            elif inspect.isclass(child) and issubclass(child, ChoiceType):
-                return ChoiceWrapper(child, parent=self.parent, _field=self._field, preferred_help=self.preferred_help)
             elif is_union(child):
                 return UnionWrapper(child, parent=self.parent, _field=self._field, preferred_help=self.preferred_help)
             elif child is None or child is type(None):
diff --git a/tests/test_optional_choice_type.py b/tests/test_optional_choice_type.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..be68485
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_optional_choice_type.py
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+# test_optional_choice_type.py
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from typing import Optional
+
+import pytest
+
+import draccus
+from draccus.choice_types import ChoiceRegistry
+from draccus.utils import DecodingError
+from tests.testutils import TestSetup
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Person(ChoiceRegistry):
+    name: str
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Adult(Person):
+    age: int
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Child(Person):
+    favorite_toy: str
+
+
+Person.register_subclass("adult", Adult)
+Person.register_subclass("child", Child)
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Profile(TestSetup):
+    person: Optional[Person] = None
+
+
+def test_optional_choice_empty():
+    profile = Profile.setup("")
+    assert profile.person is None
+
+
+def test_optional_choice_adult():
+    profile = Profile.setup("--person.type adult --person.name Bob --person.age 30")
+    assert profile.person == Adult(name="Bob", age=30)
+
+
+def test_optional_choice_child():
+    profile = Profile.setup("--person.type child --person.name Alice --person.favorite_toy truck")
+    assert profile.person == Child(name="Alice", favorite_toy="truck")
+
+
+def test_invalid_choice():
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as excinfo:
+        Profile.setup("--person.type invalid_type --person.name Jill")
+    assert excinfo.type is SystemExit
+    assert excinfo.value.code == 2
+
+
+def test_invalid_fields_adult():
+    with pytest.raises(DecodingError):
+        Profile.setup("--person.type adult --person.name Bob --person.age 30 --person.favorite_toy truck")
+
+
+def test_encode_optional_none():
+    profile = Profile()
+    assert draccus.encode(profile) == {"person": None}
+
+
+def test_encode_optional_child():
+    profile = Profile(person=Child(name="Kevin", favorite_toy="ball"))
+    encoded = draccus.encode(profile)
+    assert encoded == {
+        "person": {
+            "type": "child",
+            "name": "Kevin",
+            "favorite_toy": "ball",
+        }
+    }
+
+
+def test_encode_optional_adult():
+    profile = Profile(person=Adult(name="Bob", age=42))
+    encoded = draccus.encode(profile)
+    assert encoded == {
+        "person": {
+            "type": "adult",
+            "name": "Bob",
+            "age": 42,
+        }
+    }