diff --git a/helm-toolkit/templates/snippets/_kubernetes_metadata_labels.tpl b/helm-toolkit/templates/snippets/_kubernetes_metadata_labels.tpl
index 5c2dedb06f..5439a812ea 100644
--- a/helm-toolkit/templates/snippets/_kubernetes_metadata_labels.tpl
+++ b/helm-toolkit/templates/snippets/_kubernetes_metadata_labels.tpl
@@ -37,18 +37,22 @@ return: |
 {{- $envAll := index . 0 -}}
 {{- $application := index . 1 -}}
 {{- $component := index . 2 -}}
+{{- $podValues := $envAll.Values.pod | default dict -}}
+{{- $labels := $podValues.labels | default dict -}}
 release_group: {{ $envAll.Values.release_group | default $envAll.Release.Name }}
 application: {{ $application }}
 component: {{ $component }}
+{{- if or $labels.include_app_kubernetes_io (not (hasKey $labels "include_app_kubernetes_io")) }}
 app.kubernetes.io/name: {{ $application }}
 app.kubernetes.io/component: {{ $component }}
 app.kubernetes.io/instance: {{ $envAll.Values.release_group | default $envAll.Release.Name }}
-{{- if ($envAll.Values.pod).labels }}
-{{- if hasKey $envAll.Values.pod.labels $component }}
-{{ index $envAll.Values.pod "labels" $component | toYaml }}
 {{- end -}}
-{{- if hasKey $envAll.Values.pod.labels "default" }}
-{{ $envAll.Values.pod.labels.default | toYaml }}
+{{- if $labels }}
+{{- if hasKey $labels $component }}
+{{ index $podValues "labels" $component | toYaml }}
+{{- end -}}
+{{- if hasKey $labels "default" }}
+{{ $labels.default | toYaml }}
 {{- end -}}
 {{- end -}}
 {{- end -}}