diff --git a/collector/diskstats_common.go b/collector/diskstats_common.go
index e636aa68..dbe0b5cf 100644
--- a/collector/diskstats_common.go
+++ b/collector/diskstats_common.go
@@ -93,13 +93,16 @@ func newDiskstatsDeviceFilter(config DiskstatsDeviceFilterConfig, logger log.Log
 
 	if *config.DeviceExclude != "" {
 		level.Info(logger).Log("msg", "Parsed flag --collector.diskstats.device-exclude", "flag", *config.DeviceExclude)
-	} else {
-		*config.DeviceExclude = diskstatsDefaultIgnoredDevices
 	}
 
 	if *config.DeviceInclude != "" {
 		level.Info(logger).Log("msg", "Parsed Flag --collector.diskstats.device-include", "flag", *config.DeviceInclude)
 	}
 
+	if !config.DeviceExcludeSet { // use default exclude devices if flag is not set
+		devices := diskstatsDefaultIgnoredDevices
+		config.DeviceExclude = &devices
+	}
+
 	return newDeviceFilter(*config.DeviceExclude, *config.DeviceInclude), nil
 }
diff --git a/collector/filesystem_common.go b/collector/filesystem_common.go
index aca57da7..824cf2c8 100644
--- a/collector/filesystem_common.go
+++ b/collector/filesystem_common.go
@@ -70,10 +70,14 @@ func NewFilesystemCollector(config *NodeCollectorConfig, logger log.Logger) (Col
 			return nil, errors.New("--collector.filesystem.ignored-mount-points and --collector.filesystem.mount-points-exclude are mutually exclusive")
 		}
 	}
+
 	if *config.Filesystem.MountPointsExclude != "" {
 		level.Info(logger).Log("msg", "Parsed flag --collector.filesystem.mount-points-exclude", "flag", *config.Filesystem.MountPointsExclude)
-	} else {
-		*config.Filesystem.MountPointsExclude = defMountPointsExcluded
+	}
+
+	if !config.Filesystem.MountPointsExcludeSet { // use default mount points if flag is not set
+		mountPoints := defMountPointsExcluded
+		config.Filesystem.MountPointsExclude = &mountPoints
 	}
 
 	if *config.Filesystem.OldFSTypesExcluded != "" {
@@ -84,11 +88,14 @@ func NewFilesystemCollector(config *NodeCollectorConfig, logger log.Logger) (Col
 			return nil, errors.New("--collector.filesystem.ignored-fs-types and --collector.filesystem.fs-types-exclude are mutually exclusive")
 		}
 	}
+
 	if *config.Filesystem.FSTypesExclude != "" {
 		level.Info(logger).Log("msg", "Parsed flag --collector.filesystem.fs-types-exclude", "flag", *config.Filesystem.FSTypesExclude)
+	}
 
-	} else {
-		*config.Filesystem.FSTypesExclude = defFSTypesExcluded
+	if !config.Filesystem.FSTypesExcludeSet { // use default fs types if flag is not set
+		fsTypes := defFSTypesExcluded
+		config.Filesystem.FSTypesExclude = &fsTypes
 	}
 
 	subsystem := "filesystem"
diff --git a/collector/ipvs_linux.go b/collector/ipvs_linux.go
index 487a25dc..3a7c1389 100644
--- a/collector/ipvs_linux.go
+++ b/collector/ipvs_linux.go
@@ -82,8 +82,9 @@ func newIPVSCollector(config *NodeCollectorConfig, logger log.Logger) (*ipvsColl
 		subsystem = "ipvs"
 	)
 
-	if *config.IPVS.Labels == "" {
-		*config.IPVS.Labels = strings.Join(fullIpvsBackendLabels, ",")
+	if !config.IPVS.LabelsSet { // use default labels if flag is not set
+		labels := strings.Join(fullIpvsBackendLabels, ",")
+		config.IPVS.Labels = &labels
 	}
 
 	if c.backendLabels, err = c.parseIpvsLabels(*config.IPVS.Labels); err != nil {
diff --git a/collector/ipvs_linux_test.go b/collector/ipvs_linux_test.go
index 62fab681..c33c65f3 100644
--- a/collector/ipvs_linux_test.go
+++ b/collector/ipvs_linux_test.go
@@ -110,8 +110,8 @@ func TestIPVSCollector(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	for _, test := range testcases {
 		t.Run(test.labels, func(t *testing.T) {
-			config.IPVS.Labels = new(string)
 			if test.labels != "<none>" {
+				config.IPVS.LabelsSet = true
 				config.IPVS.Labels = &test.labels
 			}
 			collector, err := newIPVSCollector(config, log.NewNopLogger())
@@ -179,8 +179,8 @@ func TestIPVSCollectorResponse(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	for _, test := range testcases {
 		t.Run(test.labels, func(t *testing.T) {
-			config.IPVS.Labels = new(string)
 			if test.labels != "<none>" {
+				config.IPVS.LabelsSet = true
 				config.IPVS.Labels = &test.labels
 			}
 			collector, err := NewIPVSCollector(config, log.NewNopLogger())
diff --git a/kingpinconfig/flags.go b/kingpinconfig/flags.go
index 0a543208..626678d4 100644
--- a/kingpinconfig/flags.go
+++ b/kingpinconfig/flags.go
@@ -83,7 +83,10 @@ func AddFlags(a *kingpin.Application) *collector.NodeCollectorConfig {
 	config.HwMon.ChipInclude = a.Flag("collector.hwmon.chip-include", "Regexp of hwmon chip to include (mutually exclusive to device-exclude).").String()
 	config.HwMon.ChipExclude = a.Flag("collector.hwmon.chip-exclude", "Regexp of hwmon chip to exclude (mutually exclusive to device-include).").String()
 
-	config.IPVS.Labels = a.Flag("collector.ipvs.backend-labels", "Comma separated list for IPVS backend stats labels.").String()
+	config.IPVS.Labels = a.Flag("collector.ipvs.backend-labels", "Comma separated list for IPVS backend stats labels.").PreAction(func(c *kingpin.ParseContext) error {
+		config.IPVS.LabelsSet = true
+		return nil
+	}).String()
 
 	config.NetClass.IgnoredDevices = a.Flag("collector.netclass.ignored-devices", "Regexp of net devices to ignore for netclass collector.").Default("^$").String()
 	config.NetClass.InvalidSpeed = a.Flag("collector.netclass.ignore-invalid-speed", "Ignore devices where the speed is invalid. This will be the default behavior in 2.x.").Bool()