diff --git a/index.d.ts b/index.d.ts
index 8cf983a7..6dbb96a6 100644
--- a/index.d.ts
+++ b/index.d.ts
@@ -767,6 +767,21 @@ export function exponentialBuckets(
 	count: number,
 ): number[];
 
+type AvailableDefaultMetrics =
+	| 'processCpuTotal'
+	| 'processStartTime'
+	| 'osMemoryHeap'
+	| 'processOpenFileDescriptors'
+	| 'processMaxFileDescriptors'
+	| 'eventLoopLag'
+	| 'processResources'
+	| 'processHandles'
+	| 'processRequests'
+	| 'heapSizeAndUsed'
+	| 'heapSpacesSizeAndUsed'
+	| 'version'
+	| 'gc';
+
 export interface DefaultMetricsCollectorConfiguration<
 	T extends RegistryContentType,
 > {
@@ -775,6 +790,7 @@ export interface DefaultMetricsCollectorConfiguration<
 	gcDurationBuckets?: number[];
 	eventLoopMonitoringPrecision?: number;
 	labels?: object;
+	exclude?: AvailableDefaultMetrics[];
 }
 
 export const collectDefaultMetrics: {
@@ -786,7 +802,7 @@ export const collectDefaultMetrics: {
 		config?: DefaultMetricsCollectorConfiguration<T>,
 	): void;
 	/** All available default metrics */
-	metricsList: string[];
+	metricsList: AvailableDefaultMetrics[];
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/defaultMetrics.js b/lib/defaultMetrics.js
index 651d640e..d0ab18d6 100644
--- a/lib/defaultMetrics.js
+++ b/lib/defaultMetrics.js
@@ -42,10 +42,13 @@ module.exports = function collectDefaultMetrics(config) {
 		throw new TypeError('config must be null, undefined, or an object');
 	}
 
-	config = { eventLoopMonitoringPrecision: 10, ...config };
+	config = { eventLoopMonitoringPrecision: 10, exclude: [], ...config };
 
-	for (const metric of Object.values(metrics)) {
-		metric(config.register, config);
+	for (const metricGroup in metrics) {
+		if (config.exclude.includes(metricGroup)) {
+			continue;
+		}
+		metrics[metricGroup](config.register, config);
 	}
 };
 
diff --git a/test/defaultMetricsTest.js b/test/defaultMetricsTest.js
index 2021d799..a6f02759 100644
--- a/test/defaultMetricsTest.js
+++ b/test/defaultMetricsTest.js
@@ -91,6 +91,22 @@ describe.each([
 		});
 	});
 
+	it('should allow to exclude specific metrics', async () => {
+		expect(await register.getMetricsAsJSON()).toHaveLength(0);
+
+		collectDefaultMetrics();
+		expect(
+			await register.getSingleMetric('nodejs_eventloop_lag_seconds'),
+		).toBeDefined();
+
+		register.clear();
+
+		collectDefaultMetrics({ exclude: ['eventLoopLag'] });
+		expect(
+			await register.getSingleMetric('nodejs_eventloop_lag_seconds'),
+		).toBeUndefined();
+	});
+
 	describe('disabling', () => {
 		it('should not throw error', () => {
 			const fn = function () {