diff --git a/doc/whats-new.rst b/doc/whats-new.rst
index e485b24bf3e..63c9dee04c5 100644
--- a/doc/whats-new.rst
+++ b/doc/whats-new.rst
@@ -139,6 +139,8 @@ Bug fixes
 - Static typing of dunder ops methods (like :py:meth:`DataArray.__eq__`) has been fixed.
   Remaining issues are upstream problems (:issue:`7780`, :pull:`8204`).
   By `Michael Niklas <https://github.com/headtr1ck>`_.
+- Fix type annotation for ``center`` argument of plotting methods (like :py:meth:`xarray.plot.dataarray_plot.pcolormesh`) (:pull:`8261`).
+  By `Pieter Eendebak <https://github.com/eendebakpt>`_.
 
 Documentation
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/xarray/plot/dataarray_plot.py b/xarray/plot/dataarray_plot.py
index 8e930d0731c..61f2014fbc3 100644
--- a/xarray/plot/dataarray_plot.py
+++ b/xarray/plot/dataarray_plot.py
@@ -1348,7 +1348,7 @@ def _plot2d(plotfunc):
         `seaborn color palette <https://seaborn.pydata.org/tutorial/color_palettes.html>`_.
         Note: if ``cmap`` is a seaborn color palette and the plot type
         is not ``'contour'`` or ``'contourf'``, ``levels`` must also be specified.
-    center : float, optional
+    center : float or False, optional
         The value at which to center the colormap. Passing this value implies
         use of a diverging colormap. Setting it to ``False`` prevents use of a
         diverging colormap.
@@ -1432,7 +1432,7 @@ def newplotfunc(
         vmin: float | None = None,
         vmax: float | None = None,
         cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-        center: float | None = None,
+        center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
         robust: bool = False,
         extend: ExtendOptions = None,
         levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -1692,7 +1692,7 @@ def imshow(  # type: ignore[misc,unused-ignore]  # None is hashable :(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -1733,7 +1733,7 @@ def imshow(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -1774,7 +1774,7 @@ def imshow(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -1911,7 +1911,7 @@ def contour(  # type: ignore[misc,unused-ignore]  # None is hashable :(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -1952,7 +1952,7 @@ def contour(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -1993,7 +1993,7 @@ def contour(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -2047,7 +2047,7 @@ def contourf(  # type: ignore[misc,unused-ignore]  # None is hashable :(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -2088,7 +2088,7 @@ def contourf(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -2129,7 +2129,7 @@ def contourf(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -2183,7 +2183,7 @@ def pcolormesh(  # type: ignore[misc,unused-ignore]  # None is hashable :(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -2224,7 +2224,7 @@ def pcolormesh(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -2265,7 +2265,7 @@ def pcolormesh(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -2370,7 +2370,7 @@ def surface(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -2411,7 +2411,7 @@ def surface(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,
@@ -2452,7 +2452,7 @@ def surface(
     vmin: float | None = None,
     vmax: float | None = None,
     cmap: str | Colormap | None = None,
-    center: float | None = None,
+    center: float | Literal[False] | None = None,
     robust: bool = False,
     extend: ExtendOptions = None,
     levels: ArrayLike | None = None,