diff --git a/altair/utils/__init__.py b/altair/utils/__init__.py
index cb7920b03..0bd8ec5e3 100644
--- a/altair/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/altair/utils/__init__.py
@@ -7,11 +7,11 @@
     update_nested,
     display_traceback,
     SchemaBase,
-    Undefined,
 )
 from .html import spec_to_html
 from .plugin_registry import PluginRegistry
 from .deprecation import AltairDeprecationWarning
+from .schemapi import Undefined
 
 
 __all__ = (
diff --git a/altair/utils/core.py b/altair/utils/core.py
index c47b9a04d..38bf09504 100644
--- a/altair/utils/core.py
+++ b/altair/utils/core.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 import pandas as pd
 import numpy as np
 
-from altair.utils.schemapi import SchemaBase, Undefined
+from altair.utils.schemapi import SchemaBase
 
 try:
     from pandas.api.types import infer_dtype as _infer_dtype
@@ -669,15 +669,6 @@ def infer_encoding_types(args, kwargs, channels):
         kwargs[encoding] = arg
 
     def _wrap_in_channel_class(obj, encoding):
-        try:
-            condition = obj["condition"]
-        except (KeyError, TypeError):
-            pass
-        else:
-            if condition is not Undefined:
-                obj = obj.copy()
-                obj["condition"] = _wrap_in_channel_class(condition, encoding)
-
         if isinstance(obj, SchemaBase):
             return obj
 
diff --git a/altair/vegalite/v5/api.py b/altair/vegalite/v5/api.py
index 478c3e5d0..5a65f86bb 100644
--- a/altair/vegalite/v5/api.py
+++ b/altair/vegalite/v5/api.py
@@ -516,7 +516,7 @@ def condition(predicate, if_true, if_false, **kwargs):
         # dict in the appropriate schema
         if_true = if_true.to_dict()
     elif isinstance(if_true, str):
-        if_true = {"shorthand": if_true}
+        if_true = utils.parse_shorthand(if_true)
         if_true.update(kwargs)
     condition.update(if_true)
 
diff --git a/altair/vegalite/v5/schema/channels.py b/altair/vegalite/v5/schema/channels.py
index bb078f59e..a59f4bd1e 100644
--- a/altair/vegalite/v5/schema/channels.py
+++ b/altair/vegalite/v5/schema/channels.py
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def to_dict(self, validate=True, ignore=(), context=None):
             elif 'field' in condition and 'type' not in condition:
                 kwds = parse_shorthand(condition['field'], context.get('data', None))
                 copy = self.copy(deep=['condition'])
-                copy.condition.update(kwds)
+                copy['condition'].update(kwds)
         return super(ValueChannelMixin, copy).to_dict(validate=validate,
                                                       ignore=ignore,
                                                       context=context)
diff --git a/tests/utils/tests/test_core.py b/tests/utils/tests/test_core.py
index c46d1744e..e0b575671 100644
--- a/tests/utils/tests/test_core.py
+++ b/tests/utils/tests/test_core.py
@@ -249,17 +249,35 @@ def test_infer_encoding_types(channels):
     assert infer_encoding_types(args, kwds, channels) == expected
 
 
-def test_infer_encoding_types_with_condition(channels):
+def test_infer_encoding_types_with_condition():
+    channels = alt.channels
+
     args, kwds = _getargs(
-        x=alt.condition("pred1", alt.value(1), alt.value(2)),
-        y=alt.condition("pred2", alt.value(1), "yval"),
-        strokeWidth=alt.condition("pred3", "sval", alt.value(2)),
+        size=alt.condition("pred1", alt.value(1), alt.value(2)),
+        color=alt.condition("pred2", alt.value("red"), "cfield:N"),
+        opacity=alt.condition("pred3", "ofield:N", alt.value(0.2)),
     )
+
     expected = dict(
-        x=channels.XValue(2, condition=channels.XValue(1, test="pred1")),
-        y=channels.Y("yval", condition=channels.YValue(1, test="pred2")),
-        strokeWidth=channels.StrokeWidthValue(
-            2, condition=channels.StrokeWidth("sval", test="pred3")
+        size=channels.SizeValue(
+            2,
+            condition=alt.ConditionalPredicateValueDefnumberExprRef(
+                value=1, test=alt.Predicate("pred1")
+            ),
+        ),
+        color=channels.Color(
+            "cfield:N",
+            condition=alt.ConditionalPredicateValueDefGradientstringnullExprRef(
+                value="red", test=alt.Predicate("pred2")
+            ),
+        ),
+        opacity=channels.OpacityValue(
+            0.2,
+            condition=alt.ConditionalPredicateMarkPropFieldOrDatumDef(
+                field=alt.FieldName("ofield"),
+                test=alt.Predicate("pred3"),
+                type=alt.StandardType("nominal"),
+            ),
         ),
     )
     assert infer_encoding_types(args, kwds, channels) == expected