diff --git a/bayesflow/experimental/cif/conditional_gaussian.py b/bayesflow/experimental/cif/conditional_gaussian.py
index 435fc7f77..4e55dcdf4 100644
--- a/bayesflow/experimental/cif/conditional_gaussian.py
+++ b/bayesflow/experimental/cif/conditional_gaussian.py
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ def __init__(self, depth: int = 4, width: int = 128, activation: str = "swish",
         """
 
         super().__init__(**keras_kwargs(kwargs))
-        self.means = MLP(depth=depth, width=width, activation=activation)
-        self.stds = MLP(depth=depth, width=width, activation=activation)
+        self.means = MLP([width] * depth, activation=activation)
+        self.stds = MLP([width] * depth, activation=activation)
         self.output_projector = keras.layers.Dense(None)
 
     def build(self, input_shape: Shape) -> None:
diff --git a/bayesflow/networks/mlp/mlp.py b/bayesflow/networks/mlp/mlp.py
index 2522153ff..d35d35c4d 100644
--- a/bayesflow/networks/mlp/mlp.py
+++ b/bayesflow/networks/mlp/mlp.py
@@ -20,10 +20,8 @@ class MLP(keras.Layer):
 
     def __init__(
         self,
+        widths: Sequence[int] = (256, 256),
         *,
-        depth: int = None,
-        width: int = None,
-        widths: Sequence[int] = None,
         activation: str = "mish",
         kernel_initializer: str = "he_normal",
         residual: bool = False,
@@ -46,15 +44,8 @@ def __init__(
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        depth : int, optional
-            Number of layers in the MLP when `widths` is not explicitly provided. Must be
-            used together with `width`. Default is 2.
-        width : int, optional
-            Number of units per layer when `widths` is not explicitly provided. Must be used
-            together with `depth`. Default is 256.
         widths : Sequence[int], optional
-            Explicitly defines the number of hidden units per layer. If provided, `depth` and
-            `width` should not be specified. Default is None.
+            Defines the number of hidden units per layer, as well as the number of layers to be used.
         activation : str, optional
             Activation function applied in the hidden layers, such as "mish". Default is "mish".
         kernel_initializer : str, optional
@@ -76,17 +67,6 @@ def __init__(
 
         super().__init__(**keras_kwargs(kwargs))
 
-        if widths is not None:
-            if depth is not None or width is not None:
-                raise ValueError("Either specify 'widths' or 'depth' and 'width', not both.")
-        else:
-            if depth is None or width is None:
-                # use the default
-                depth = 2
-                width = 256
-
-            widths = [width] * depth
-
         self.res_blocks = []
         for width in widths:
             self.res_blocks.append(
diff --git a/tests/test_networks/conftest.py b/tests/test_networks/conftest.py
index 48cd79ed2..5d646d9ee 100644
--- a/tests/test_networks/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/test_networks/conftest.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def flow_matching():
     from bayesflow.networks import FlowMatching
 
     return FlowMatching(
-        subnet_kwargs={"widths": None, "width": 64, "depth": 2},
+        subnet_kwargs={"widths": [64, 64]},
         integrate_kwargs={"method": "rk45", "steps": 100},
     )