diff --git a/exporter/prometheus/prometheus.go b/exporter/prometheus/prometheus.go
index 06afa6a93..11f5199ce 100644
--- a/exporter/prometheus/prometheus.go
+++ b/exporter/prometheus/prometheus.go
@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ func (c *collector) registerViews(views ...*view.View) {
 	count := 0
 	for _, view := range views {
 		sig := viewSignature(c.opts.Namespace, view)
-		c.registeredViewsMu.Lock()
+		c.viewsMu.Lock()
 		_, ok := c.registeredViews[sig]
-		c.registeredViewsMu.Unlock()
+		c.viewsMu.Unlock()
 
 		if !ok {
 			desc := prometheus.NewDesc(
@@ -103,9 +103,9 @@ func (c *collector) registerViews(views ...*view.View) {
 				tagKeysToLabels(view.TagKeys()),
 				nil,
 			)
-			c.registeredViewsMu.Lock()
-			c.registeredViews[sig] = desc
-			c.registeredViewsMu.Unlock()
+			c.viewsMu.Lock()
+			c.newViews[sig] = desc
+			c.viewsMu.Unlock()
 			count++
 		}
 	}
@@ -113,7 +113,6 @@ func (c *collector) registerViews(views ...*view.View) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	c.reg.Unregister(c)
 	if err := c.reg.Register(c); err != nil {
 		c.opts.onError(fmt.Errorf("cannot register the collector: %v", err))
 	}
@@ -160,9 +159,14 @@ type collector struct {
 	// Collect is invoked and the cycle is repeated.
 	viewData map[string]*view.Data
 
-	registeredViewsMu sync.Mutex
+	// protects registeredViews and newViews
+	viewsMu sync.Mutex
 	// registeredViews maps a view to a prometheus desc.
 	registeredViews map[string]*prometheus.Desc
+
+	// newViews is the set of views that are
+	// queued to be registered with Prometheus.
+	newViews map[string]*prometheus.Desc
 }
 
 func (c *collector) addViewData(vd *view.Data) {
@@ -175,12 +179,21 @@ func (c *collector) addViewData(vd *view.Data) {
 }
 
 func (c *collector) Describe(ch chan<- *prometheus.Desc) {
-	c.registeredViewsMu.Lock()
-	registered := make(map[string]*prometheus.Desc)
-	for k, desc := range c.registeredViews {
-		registered[k] = desc
+	// NOTE that this will not work properly if calling
+	// prometheus.Registerer.Unregister, but the semantics around prometheus client
+	// do not seem to lend to us being able to register all our views repeatedly.
+	// this does not return the super set of desc, just the subset that we have not
+	// yet registered with prometheus (it yells about dupes, and explicitly
+	// disallows unregistering all metrics and then registering them again).
+
+	c.viewsMu.Lock()
+	registered := make([]*prometheus.Desc, 0, len(c.newViews))
+	for k, desc := range c.newViews {
+		registered = append(registered, desc)
+		c.registeredViews[k] = desc
+		delete(c.newViews, k)
 	}
-	c.registeredViewsMu.Unlock()
+	c.viewsMu.Unlock()
 
 	for _, desc := range registered {
 		ch <- desc
@@ -197,9 +210,9 @@ func (c *collector) Collect(ch chan<- prometheus.Metric) {
 
 	for _, vd := range viewData {
 		sig := viewSignature(c.opts.Namespace, vd.View)
-		c.registeredViewsMu.Lock()
+		c.viewsMu.Lock()
 		desc := c.registeredViews[sig]
-		c.registeredViewsMu.Unlock()
+		c.viewsMu.Unlock()
 
 		for _, row := range vd.Rows {
 			metric, err := c.toMetric(desc, vd.View, row)
@@ -260,6 +273,7 @@ func newCollector(opts Options, registrar *prometheus.Registry) *collector {
 		reg:             registrar,
 		opts:            opts,
 		registeredViews: make(map[string]*prometheus.Desc),
+		newViews:        make(map[string]*prometheus.Desc),
 		viewData:        make(map[string]*view.Data),
 	}
 }