diff --git a/pandas/_libs/tslibs/period.pyx b/pandas/_libs/tslibs/period.pyx
index 774fd7f20fed6..a516565ff3f8d 100644
--- a/pandas/_libs/tslibs/period.pyx
+++ b/pandas/_libs/tslibs/period.pyx
@@ -2288,9 +2288,14 @@ cdef class _Period(PeriodMixin):
         return bool(is_leapyear(self.year))
 
     @classmethod
-    def now(cls, freq=None):
+    def now(cls, freq):
         """
         Return the period of now's date.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        freq : str, BaseOffset
+            Frequency to use for the returned period.
         """
         return Period(datetime.now(), freq=freq)
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/scalar/period/test_period.py b/pandas/tests/scalar/period/test_period.py
index b5bd61854866d..b8baaaeaeecf8 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/scalar/period/test_period.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/scalar/period/test_period.py
@@ -76,6 +76,13 @@ def test_construction(self):
         assert i1 == i2
         assert i1 == i3
 
+        i1 = Period.now("D")
+        i2 = Period(datetime.now(), freq="D")
+        i3 = Period.now(offsets.Day())
+
+        assert i1 == i2
+        assert i1 == i3
+
         i1 = Period("1982", freq="min")
         i2 = Period("1982", freq="MIN")
         assert i1 == i2