diff --git a/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_conf.h b/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_conf.h
index 2aa18da5973..77ae62de931 100644
--- a/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_conf.h
+++ b/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_conf.h
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ struct flb_kube {
     int annotations;
     int namespace_labels;
     int namespace_annotations;
+    int namespace_metadata_only;
     int dummy_meta;
     int tls_debug;
     int tls_verify;
diff --git a/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_meta.c b/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_meta.c
index 45d9c445b34..13be9d26ae4 100644
--- a/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_meta.c
+++ b/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_meta.c
@@ -2053,7 +2053,7 @@ int flb_kube_meta_get(struct flb_kube *ctx,
                         data_size, namespace_out_buf, namespace_out_size, namespace_meta);
     }
 
-    if(ctx->labels == FLB_TRUE || ctx->annotations == FLB_TRUE) {
+    if(ctx->namespace_metadata_only == FLB_FALSE) {
         ret_pod_meta = flb_kube_pod_meta_get(ctx, tag, tag_len, data, data_size,
                                              out_buf, out_size, meta, props);
     }
diff --git a/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kubernetes.c b/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kubernetes.c
index 877c1f7ac1d..76a06573fd0 100644
--- a/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kubernetes.c
+++ b/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kubernetes.c
@@ -914,6 +914,12 @@ static struct flb_config_map config_map[] = {
      0, FLB_TRUE, offsetof(struct flb_kube, namespace_annotations),
      "include Kubernetes namespace annotations on every record"
     },
+    /* Ignore pod metadata entirely, useful for fetching only namespace meta */
+    {
+     FLB_CONFIG_MAP_BOOL, "namespace_metadata_only", "false",
+     0, FLB_TRUE, offsetof(struct flb_kube, namespace_metadata_only),
+     "ignore pod metadata entirely and only fetch namespace metadata"
+    },
 
     /*
      * The Application may 'propose' special configuration keys