diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index b037199b..5f299f45 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ type Mode string
 const (
 	ModeAgent   Mode = "agent"
 	ModeMonitor Mode = "monitor"
+
+	DefaultAPINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled = true
 )
 
 type TLS struct {
@@ -196,7 +198,7 @@ func Get() Config {
 			cfg.EKS.APITimeout = 120 * time.Second
 		}
 		if cfg.EKS.APINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled == nil {
-			cfg.EKS.APINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled = lo.ToPtr(true)
+			cfg.EKS.APINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled = lo.ToPtr(DefaultAPINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled)
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/services/providers/providers.go b/internal/services/providers/providers.go
index 42c41224..68398e18 100644
--- a/internal/services/providers/providers.go
+++ b/internal/services/providers/providers.go
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ func GetProvider(ctx context.Context, log logrus.FieldLogger, discoveryService d
 
 	if cfg.Provider == eks.Name || cfg.EKS != nil {
 		eksProviderLogger := log.WithField("provider", eks.Name)
-		apiNodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled := *cfg.EKS.APINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled
+		apiNodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled := isAPINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled(cfg)
+
 		if !apiNodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled {
 			eksProviderLogger.Info("node lifecycle discovery through AWS API is disabled - all nodes without spot labels will be considered on-demand")
 		}
@@ -48,3 +49,11 @@ func GetProvider(ctx context.Context, log logrus.FieldLogger, discoveryService d
 
 	return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown provider %q", cfg.Provider)
 }
+
+func isAPINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled(cfg config.Config) bool {
+	if cfg.EKS != nil && cfg.EKS.APINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled != nil {
+		return *cfg.EKS.APINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled
+	}
+
+	return config.DefaultAPINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled
+}
diff --git a/internal/services/providers/providers_test.go b/internal/services/providers/providers_test.go
index 71808960..f7579c33 100644
--- a/internal/services/providers/providers_test.go
+++ b/internal/services/providers/providers_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/samber/lo"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 
@@ -86,3 +87,39 @@ func TestGetProvider(t *testing.T) {
 		r.IsType(&openshift.Provider{}, got)
 	})
 }
+
+func Test_isAPINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := map[string]struct {
+		cfg  config.Config
+		want bool
+	}{
+		"should use default node lifecycle discovery value when EKS config is nil": {
+			cfg:  config.Config{},
+			want: true,
+		},
+		"should use default node lifecycle discovery value when EKS config is not nil and config value is nil": {
+			cfg: config.Config{
+				EKS: &config.EKS{APINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled: nil},
+			},
+			want: true,
+		},
+		"should use node lifecycle discovery value from config when it is configured": {
+			cfg: config.Config{
+				EKS: &config.EKS{
+					APINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled: lo.ToPtr(false),
+				},
+			},
+			want: false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for testName, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(testName, func(t *testing.T) {
+			r := require.New(t)
+
+			got := isAPINodeLifecycleDiscoveryEnabled(tt.cfg)
+
+			r.Equal(tt.want, got)
+		})
+	}
+}