diff --git a/adafruit_logging.py b/adafruit_logging.py
index cabcdff..db4b699 100644
--- a/adafruit_logging.py
+++ b/adafruit_logging.py
@@ -62,12 +62,8 @@
 from collections import namedtuple
 
 try:
-    from typing import Optional
-
-    try:
-        from typing import Protocol
-    except ImportError:
-        from typing_extensions import Protocol
+    from typing import Optional, Hashable
+    from typing_extensions import Protocol
 
     class WriteableStream(Protocol):
         """Any stream that can ``write`` strings"""
@@ -245,7 +241,7 @@ def emit(self, record: LogRecord) -> None:
 logger_cache = {}
 
 
-def _addLogger(logger_name: str) -> None:
+def _addLogger(logger_name: Hashable) -> None:
     """Adds the logger if it doesn't already exist"""
     if logger_name not in logger_cache:
         new_logger = Logger(logger_name)
@@ -253,12 +249,15 @@ def _addLogger(logger_name: str) -> None:
         logger_cache[logger_name] = new_logger
 
 
-def getLogger(logger_name: str) -> "Logger":
+def getLogger(logger_name: Hashable = "") -> "Logger":
     """Create or retrieve a logger by name; only retrieves loggers
     made using this function; if a Logger with this name does not
     exist it is created
 
-    :param str logger_name: The name of the `Logger` to create/retrieve.
+    :param Hashable logger_name: The name of the `Logger` to create/retrieve, this
+        is typically a ``str``.  If none is provided, the single root logger will
+        be created/retrieved.  Note that unlike CPython, a blank string will also
+        access the root logger.
     """
     _addLogger(logger_name)
     return logger_cache[logger_name]
@@ -267,12 +266,12 @@ def getLogger(logger_name: str) -> "Logger":
 class Logger:
     """The actual logger that will provide the logging API.
 
-    :param str name: The name of the logger, typically assigned by the
-        value from `getLogger`
+    :param Hashable name: The name of the logger, typically assigned by the
+        value from `getLogger`; this is typically a ``str``
     :param int level: (optional) The log level, default is ``NOTSET``
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, name: str, level: int = NOTSET) -> None:
+    def __init__(self, name: Hashable, level: int = NOTSET) -> None:
         """Create an instance."""
         self._level = level
         self.name = name