diff --git a/charts/fluent-bit/templates/_helpers.tpl b/charts/fluent-bit/templates/_helpers.tpl
index f46f88d2..1e1b867e 100644
--- a/charts/fluent-bit/templates/_helpers.tpl
+++ b/charts/fluent-bit/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -52,9 +52,9 @@ app.kubernetes.io/instance: {{ .Release.Name }}
 {{- end -}}
 
 {{/*
-Pod labels
+Verbose Pod labels
 */}}
-{{- define "fluent-bit.podLabels" -}}
+{{- define "fluent-bit.verbosePodLabels" -}}
 {{ include "fluent-bit.selectorLabels" . }}
 {{- if .Chart.AppVersion }}
 app.kubernetes.io/version: {{ .Chart.AppVersion | quote }}
diff --git a/charts/fluent-bit/templates/daemonset.yaml b/charts/fluent-bit/templates/daemonset.yaml
index 49feedcf..752b8399 100644
--- a/charts/fluent-bit/templates/daemonset.yaml
+++ b/charts/fluent-bit/templates/daemonset.yaml
@@ -27,7 +27,11 @@ spec:
   template:
     metadata:
       labels:
-        {{- include "fluent-bit.podLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
+        {{- if .Values.verbosePodLabels.enabled }}
+          {{- include "fluent-bit.verbosePodLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
+        {{- else }}
+          {{- include "fluent-bit.selectorLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
+        {{- end }}
         {{- with .Values.podLabels }}
         {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
         {{- end }}
diff --git a/charts/fluent-bit/templates/deployment.yaml b/charts/fluent-bit/templates/deployment.yaml
index ab092975..990a5d7b 100644
--- a/charts/fluent-bit/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/fluent-bit/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -30,7 +30,11 @@ spec:
   template:
     metadata:
       labels:
-        {{- include "fluent-bit.podLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- if .Values.verbosePodLabels.enabled }}
+        {{- include "fluent-bit.verbosePodLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- else }}
+        {{- include "fluent-bit.selectorLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- end }}
       {{- with .Values.podLabels }}
         {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
       {{- end }}
diff --git a/charts/fluent-bit/values.yaml b/charts/fluent-bit/values.yaml
index df4e47f1..99a8fea0 100644
--- a/charts/fluent-bit/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/fluent-bit/values.yaml
@@ -302,6 +302,10 @@ podAnnotations: {}
 
 podLabels: {}
 
+# adds app.kubernetes.io/version label to pods for istio required labels
+verbosePodLabels:
+  enabled: false
+
 ## How long (in seconds) a pods needs to be stable before progressing the deployment
 ##
 minReadySeconds: