diff --git a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/kubernetes.go b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/kubernetes.go
index 21082285a67d4..fccb1a9051ca9 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/kubernetes.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/kubernetes.go
@@ -76,6 +76,13 @@ func (p *Prometheus) startK8s(ctx context.Context) error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if !p.isNodeScrapeScope {
+		err = p.watchPod(ctx, client)
+		if err != nil {
+			p.Log.Warnf("Error while attempting to watch pod: %s", err.Error())
+		}
+	}
+
 	p.wg.Add(1)
 	go func() {
 		defer p.wg.Done()
@@ -90,10 +97,7 @@ func (p *Prometheus) startK8s(ctx context.Context) error {
 						p.Log.Errorf("Unable to monitor pods with node scrape scope: %s", err.Error())
 					}
 				} else {
-					err = p.watchPod(ctx, client)
-					if err != nil {
-						p.Log.Warnf("Error while attempting to watch pod: %s", err.Error())
-					}
+					<-ctx.Done()
 				}
 			}
 		}
@@ -193,8 +197,6 @@ func (p *Prometheus) watchPod(ctx context.Context, clientset *kubernetes.Clients
 
 	informerfactory.Start(ctx.Done())
 	informerfactory.WaitForCacheSync(wait.NeverStop)
-
-	<-ctx.Done()
 	return err
 }
 
@@ -366,9 +368,6 @@ func podReady(pod *corev1.Pod) bool {
 }
 
 func registerPod(pod *corev1.Pod, p *Prometheus) {
-	if p.kubernetesPods == nil {
-		p.kubernetesPods = map[PodID]URLAndAddress{}
-	}
 	targetURL, err := getScrapeURL(pod, p)
 	if err != nil {
 		p.Log.Errorf("could not parse URL: %s", err)
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/kubernetes_test.go b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/kubernetes_test.go
index 8981b7c6d0984..57e57e6678595 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/kubernetes_test.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/kubernetes_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ func initPrometheus() *Prometheus {
 	prom.MonitorKubernetesPodsPort = 9102
 	prom.MonitorKubernetesPodsPath = "/metrics"
 	prom.MonitorKubernetesPodsMethod = MonitorMethodAnnotations
+	prom.kubernetesPods = map[PodID]URLAndAddress{}
 	return prom
 }
 
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ func TestScrapeURLAnnotationsCustomPathWithFragment(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestAddPod(t *testing.T) {
-	prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}}
+	prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}, kubernetesPods: map[PodID]URLAndAddress{}}
 
 	p := pod()
 	p.Annotations = map[string]string{"prometheus.io/scrape": "true"}
@@ -148,7 +149,7 @@ func TestAddPodScrapeConfig(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestAddMultipleDuplicatePods(t *testing.T) {
-	prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}}
+	prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}, kubernetesPods: map[PodID]URLAndAddress{}}
 
 	p := pod()
 	p.Annotations = map[string]string{"prometheus.io/scrape": "true"}
@@ -161,7 +162,7 @@ func TestAddMultipleDuplicatePods(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestAddMultiplePods(t *testing.T) {
-	prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}}
+	prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}, kubernetesPods: map[PodID]URLAndAddress{}}
 
 	p := pod()
 	p.Annotations = map[string]string{"prometheus.io/scrape": "true"}
@@ -173,7 +174,7 @@ func TestAddMultiplePods(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestDeletePods(t *testing.T) {
-	prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}}
+	prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}, kubernetesPods: map[PodID]URLAndAddress{}}
 
 	p := pod()
 	p.Annotations = map[string]string{"prometheus.io/scrape": "true"}
@@ -185,7 +186,7 @@ func TestDeletePods(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestKeepDefaultNamespaceLabelName(t *testing.T) {
-	prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}}
+	prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}, kubernetesPods: map[PodID]URLAndAddress{}}
 
 	p := pod()
 	p.Annotations = map[string]string{"prometheus.io/scrape": "true"}
@@ -197,7 +198,7 @@ func TestKeepDefaultNamespaceLabelName(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestChangeNamespaceLabelName(t *testing.T) {
-	prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}, PodNamespaceLabelName: "pod_namespace"}
+	prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}, PodNamespaceLabelName: "pod_namespace", kubernetesPods: map[PodID]URLAndAddress{}}
 
 	p := pod()
 	p.Annotations = map[string]string{"prometheus.io/scrape": "true"}
@@ -296,7 +297,7 @@ func TestAnnotationFilters(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {
 		t.Run(tc.desc, func(t *testing.T) {
-			prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}}
+			prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}, kubernetesPods: map[PodID]URLAndAddress{}}
 			prom.PodAnnotationInclude = tc.include
 			prom.PodAnnotationExclude = tc.exclude
 			require.NoError(t, prom.initFilters())
@@ -341,7 +342,7 @@ func TestLabelFilters(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {
 		t.Run(tc.desc, func(t *testing.T) {
-			prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}}
+			prom := &Prometheus{Log: testutil.Logger{}, kubernetesPods: map[PodID]URLAndAddress{}}
 			prom.PodLabelInclude = tc.include
 			prom.PodLabelExclude = tc.exclude
 			require.NoError(t, prom.initFilters())
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/prometheus.go b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/prometheus.go
index 2e631650638c4..5b5ac6e4b3930 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/prometheus.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/prometheus.go
@@ -224,6 +224,8 @@ func (p *Prometheus) Init() error {
 		"Accept":     acceptHeader,
 	}
 
+	p.kubernetesPods = map[PodID]URLAndAddress{}
+
 	return nil
 }