diff --git a/docs/gl_objects/access_requests.rst b/docs/gl_objects/access_requests.rst
index e890ce07f..467c3e5ff 100644
--- a/docs/gl_objects/access_requests.rst
+++ b/docs/gl_objects/access_requests.rst
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ List access requests from projects and groups::
 
 Create an access request::
 
-    p_ar = project.accessrequests.create({})
-    g_ar = group.accessrequests.create({})
+    p_ar = project.accessrequests.create()
+    g_ar = group.accessrequests.create()
 
 Approve an access request::
 
diff --git a/docs/gl_objects/projects.rst b/docs/gl_objects/projects.rst
index 8c3526c36..187875719 100644
--- a/docs/gl_objects/projects.rst
+++ b/docs/gl_objects/projects.rst
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ Delete a project::
 
 Fork a project::
 
-    fork = project.forks.create({})
+    fork = project.forks.create()
 
     # fork to a specific namespace
     fork = project.forks.create({'namespace': 'myteam'})
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ generated by GitLab you need to:
 
     # Create the export
     p = gl.projects.get(my_project)
-    export = p.exports.create({})
+    export = p.exports.create()
 
     # Wait for the 'finished' status
     export.refresh()
diff --git a/gitlab/mixins.py b/gitlab/mixins.py
index 854449949..dde11d020 100644
--- a/gitlab/mixins.py
+++ b/gitlab/mixins.py
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ def get_create_attrs(self):
         return getattr(self, "_create_attrs", (tuple(), tuple()))
 
     @exc.on_http_error(exc.GitlabCreateError)
-    def create(self, data, **kwargs):
+    def create(self, data=None, **kwargs):
         """Create a new object.
 
         Args:
@@ -186,6 +186,9 @@ def create(self, data, **kwargs):
             GitlabAuthenticationError: If authentication is not correct
             GitlabCreateError: If the server cannot perform the request
         """
+        if data is None:
+            data = {}
+
         self._check_missing_create_attrs(data)
         files = {}
 
diff --git a/tools/python_test_v4.py b/tools/python_test_v4.py
index 0703ee340..90aa7f162 100644
--- a/tools/python_test_v4.py
+++ b/tools/python_test_v4.py
@@ -949,7 +949,7 @@
 [current_project.delete() for current_project in projects]
 
 # project import/export
-ex = admin_project.exports.create({})
+ex = admin_project.exports.create()
 ex.refresh()
 count = 0
 while ex.export_status != "finished":