diff --git a/docs/querying/api.md b/docs/querying/api.md
index a2b1f19c7a..04c0d126b7 100644
--- a/docs/querying/api.md
+++ b/docs/querying/api.md
@@ -665,6 +665,7 @@ GET /api/v1/metadata
 URL query parameters:
 
 - `limit=<number>`: Maximum number of metrics to return.
+- `metric=<string>`: A metric name to filter metadata for. All metric metadata is retrieved if left empty.
 
 The `data` section of the query result consists of an object where each key is a metric name and each value is a list of unique metadata objects, as exposed for that metric name across all targets.
 
@@ -699,6 +700,30 @@ curl -G http://localhost:9090/api/v1/metadata?limit=2
 }
 ```
 
+The following example returns metadata only for the metric `http_requests_total`.
+
+```json
+curl -G http://localhost:9090/api/v1/metadata?metric=http_requests_total
+
+{
+  "status": "success",
+  "data": {
+    "http_requests_total": [
+      {
+        "type": "counter",
+        "help": "Number of HTTP requests",
+        "unit": ""
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "counter",
+        "help": "Amount of HTTP requests",
+        "unit": ""
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}
+```
+
 ## Alertmanagers
 
 The following endpoint returns an overview of the current state of the
diff --git a/web/api/v1/api.go b/web/api/v1/api.go
index 10e3af6c44..fc03e063b6 100644
--- a/web/api/v1/api.go
+++ b/web/api/v1/api.go
@@ -822,22 +822,39 @@ func (api *API) metricMetadata(r *http.Request) apiFuncResult {
 		}
 	}
 
+	metric := r.FormValue("metric")
+
 	for _, tt := range api.targetRetriever.TargetsActive() {
 		for _, t := range tt {
-			for _, mm := range t.MetadataList() {
-				m := metadata{Type: mm.Type, Help: mm.Help, Unit: mm.Unit}
-				ms, ok := metrics[mm.Metric]
+
+			if metric == "" {
+				for _, mm := range t.MetadataList() {
+					m := metadata{Type: mm.Type, Help: mm.Help, Unit: mm.Unit}
+					ms, ok := metrics[mm.Metric]
+
+					if !ok {
+						ms = map[metadata]struct{}{}
+						metrics[mm.Metric] = ms
+					}
+					ms[m] = struct{}{}
+				}
+				continue
+			}
+
+			if md, ok := t.Metadata(metric); ok {
+				m := metadata{Type: md.Type, Help: md.Help, Unit: md.Unit}
+				ms, ok := metrics[md.Metric]
 
 				if !ok {
 					ms = map[metadata]struct{}{}
-					metrics[mm.Metric] = ms
+					metrics[md.Metric] = ms
 				}
-
 				ms[m] = struct{}{}
 			}
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Put the elements from the pseudo-set into a slice for marshaling.
 	res := map[string][]metadata{}
 
 	for name, set := range metrics {
@@ -846,11 +863,9 @@ func (api *API) metricMetadata(r *http.Request) apiFuncResult {
 		}
 
 		s := []metadata{}
-
 		for metadata := range set {
 			s = append(s, metadata)
 		}
-
 		res[name] = s
 	}
 
diff --git a/web/api/v1/api_test.go b/web/api/v1/api_test.go
index cf15e30730..f5f4852591 100644
--- a/web/api/v1/api_test.go
+++ b/web/api/v1/api_test.go
@@ -1220,6 +1220,73 @@ func testEndpoints(t *testing.T, api *API, tr *testTargetRetriever, testLabelAPI
 			},
 			responseLen: 2,
 		},
+		// When requesting a specific metric that is present.
+		{
+			endpoint: api.metricMetadata,
+			query:    url.Values{"metric": []string{"go_threads"}},
+			metadata: []targetMetadata{
+				{
+					identifier: "test",
+					metadata: []scrape.MetricMetadata{
+						{
+							Metric: "go_threads",
+							Type:   textparse.MetricTypeGauge,
+							Help:   "Number of OS threads created",
+							Unit:   "",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					identifier: "blackbox",
+					metadata: []scrape.MetricMetadata{
+						{
+							Metric: "go_gc_duration_seconds",
+							Type:   textparse.MetricTypeSummary,
+							Help:   "A summary of the GC invocation durations.",
+							Unit:   "",
+						},
+						{
+							Metric: "go_threads",
+							Type:   textparse.MetricTypeGauge,
+							Help:   "Number of OS threads that were created.",
+							Unit:   "",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			response: map[string][]metadata{
+				"go_threads": []metadata{
+					{textparse.MetricTypeGauge, "Number of OS threads created", ""},
+					{textparse.MetricTypeGauge, "Number of OS threads that were created.", ""},
+				},
+			},
+			sorter: func(m interface{}) {
+				v := m.(map[string][]metadata)["go_threads"]
+
+				sort.Slice(v, func(i, j int) bool {
+					return v[i].Help < v[j].Help
+				})
+			},
+		},
+		// With a specific metric that is not present.
+		{
+			endpoint: api.metricMetadata,
+			query:    url.Values{"metric": []string{"go_gc_duration_seconds"}},
+			metadata: []targetMetadata{
+				{
+					identifier: "test",
+					metadata: []scrape.MetricMetadata{
+						{
+							Metric: "go_threads",
+							Type:   textparse.MetricTypeGauge,
+							Help:   "Number of OS threads created",
+							Unit:   "",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			response: map[string][]metadata{},
+		},
 		// With no available metadata.
 		{
 			endpoint: api.metricMetadata,