diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 400fe58b4eaee..bf85d06213ccd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 - Support `strategy` argument being case insensitive ([#12528](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/12528))
 
 
--
+- Marked `swa_lrs` argument in `StochasticWeightAveraging` callback as required ([#12556](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/12556))
 
 
 -
diff --git a/docs/source/advanced/training_tricks.rst b/docs/source/advanced/training_tricks.rst
index 103eb34c3fe8e..3c46567da9326 100644
--- a/docs/source/advanced/training_tricks.rst
+++ b/docs/source/advanced/training_tricks.rst
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ read `this post <https://pytorch.org/blog/pytorch-1.6-now-includes-stochastic-we
 .. testcode::
 
     # Enable Stochastic Weight Averaging using the callback
-    trainer = Trainer(callbacks=[StochasticWeightAveraging(...)])
+    trainer = Trainer(callbacks=[StochasticWeightAveraging(swa_lrs=1e-2)])
 
 ----------
 
diff --git a/pytorch_lightning/callbacks/stochastic_weight_avg.py b/pytorch_lightning/callbacks/stochastic_weight_avg.py
index ad9e8b8fc396b..425484567d521 100644
--- a/pytorch_lightning/callbacks/stochastic_weight_avg.py
+++ b/pytorch_lightning/callbacks/stochastic_weight_avg.py
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@
 class StochasticWeightAveraging(Callback):
     def __init__(
         self,
+        swa_lrs: Union[float, List[float]],
         swa_epoch_start: Union[int, float] = 0.8,
-        swa_lrs: Optional[Union[float, List[float]]] = None,
         annealing_epochs: int = 10,
         annealing_strategy: str = "cos",
         avg_fn: Optional[_AVG_FN] = None,
@@ -66,16 +66,15 @@ def __init__(
 
         Arguments:
 
-            swa_epoch_start: If provided as int, the procedure will start from
-                the ``swa_epoch_start``-th epoch. If provided as float between 0 and 1,
-                the procedure will start from ``int(swa_epoch_start * max_epochs)`` epoch
-
             swa_lrs: The SWA learning rate to use:
 
-                - ``None``. Use the current learning rate of the optimizer at the time the SWA procedure starts.
                 - ``float``. Use this value for all parameter groups of the optimizer.
                 - ``List[float]``. A list values for each parameter group of the optimizer.
 
+            swa_epoch_start: If provided as int, the procedure will start from
+                the ``swa_epoch_start``-th epoch. If provided as float between 0 and 1,
+                the procedure will start from ``int(swa_epoch_start * max_epochs)`` epoch
+
             annealing_epochs: number of epochs in the annealing phase (default: 10)
 
             annealing_strategy: Specifies the annealing strategy (default: "cos"):
@@ -104,10 +103,8 @@ def __init__(
         wrong_type = not isinstance(swa_lrs, (float, list))
         wrong_float = isinstance(swa_lrs, float) and swa_lrs <= 0
         wrong_list = isinstance(swa_lrs, list) and not all(lr > 0 and isinstance(lr, float) for lr in swa_lrs)
-        if swa_lrs is not None and (wrong_type or wrong_float or wrong_list):
-            raise MisconfigurationException(
-                "The `swa_lrs` should be `None`, a positive float, or a list of positive floats"
-            )
+        if wrong_type or wrong_float or wrong_list:
+            raise MisconfigurationException("The `swa_lrs` should a positive float, or a list of positive floats")
 
         if avg_fn is not None and not isinstance(avg_fn, Callable):
             raise MisconfigurationException("The `avg_fn` should be callable.")
@@ -164,8 +161,6 @@ def on_train_epoch_start(self, trainer: "pl.Trainer", pl_module: "pl.LightningMo
             self._average_model = self._average_model.to(self._device or pl_module.device)
 
             optimizer = trainer.optimizers[0]
-            if self._swa_lrs is None:
-                self._swa_lrs = [param_group["lr"] for param_group in optimizer.param_groups]
             if isinstance(self._swa_lrs, float):
                 self._swa_lrs = [self._swa_lrs] * len(optimizer.param_groups)
 
diff --git a/tests/callbacks/test_stochastic_weight_avg.py b/tests/callbacks/test_stochastic_weight_avg.py
index 4a79c462f2780..f62bcb19432b5 100644
--- a/tests/callbacks/test_stochastic_weight_avg.py
+++ b/tests/callbacks/test_stochastic_weight_avg.py
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ def test_swa_callback_scheduler_step(tmpdir, interval: str):
 
 def test_swa_warns(tmpdir, caplog):
     model = SwaTestModel(interval="step")
-    trainer = Trainer(default_root_dir=tmpdir, fast_dev_run=True, callbacks=StochasticWeightAveraging())
+    trainer = Trainer(default_root_dir=tmpdir, fast_dev_run=True, callbacks=StochasticWeightAveraging(swa_lrs=1e-2))
     with caplog.at_level(level=logging.INFO), pytest.warns(UserWarning, match="SWA is currently only supported"):
         trainer.fit(model)
     assert "Swapping scheduler `StepLR` for `SWALR`" in caplog.text
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ def setup(self, trainer, pl_module, stage) -> None:
             self.setup_called = True
 
     model = BoringModel()
-    swa = TestSWA()
+    swa = TestSWA(swa_lrs=1e-2)
     trainer = Trainer(default_root_dir=tmpdir, callbacks=swa, fast_dev_run=True)
     trainer.fit(model, train_dataloaders=DataLoader(RandomDataset(32, 2)))
     assert swa.setup_called
diff --git a/tests/profiler/test_profiler.py b/tests/profiler/test_profiler.py
index 6cb71be2fc125..0dfa90ce42147 100644
--- a/tests/profiler/test_profiler.py
+++ b/tests/profiler/test_profiler.py
@@ -338,7 +338,10 @@ def test_advanced_profiler_cprofile_deepcopy(tmpdir):
     """Checks for pickle issue reported in #6522."""
     model = BoringModel()
     trainer = Trainer(
-        default_root_dir=tmpdir, fast_dev_run=True, profiler="advanced", callbacks=StochasticWeightAveraging()
+        default_root_dir=tmpdir,
+        fast_dev_run=True,
+        profiler="advanced",
+        callbacks=StochasticWeightAveraging(swa_lrs=1e-2),
     )
     trainer.fit(model)