diff --git a/prometheus/promhttp/instrument_server.go b/prometheus/promhttp/instrument_server.go
index 3793036ad..356edb786 100644
--- a/prometheus/promhttp/instrument_server.go
+++ b/prometheus/promhttp/instrument_server.go
@@ -389,15 +389,12 @@ func isLabelCurried(c prometheus.Collector, label string) bool {
 	return true
 }
 
-// emptyLabels is a one-time allocation for non-partitioned metrics to avoid
-// unnecessary allocations on each request.
-var emptyLabels = prometheus.Labels{}
-
 func labels(code, method bool, reqMethod string, status int, extraMethods ...string) prometheus.Labels {
+	labels := prometheus.Labels{}
+
 	if !(code || method) {
-		return emptyLabels
+		return labels
 	}
-	labels := prometheus.Labels{}
 
 	if code {
 		labels["code"] = sanitizeCode(status)
diff --git a/prometheus/promhttp/instrument_server_test.go b/prometheus/promhttp/instrument_server_test.go
index 6c644432c..8aef09f70 100644
--- a/prometheus/promhttp/instrument_server_test.go
+++ b/prometheus/promhttp/instrument_server_test.go
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ func TestLabels(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		"empty": {
 			varLabels:  []string{},
-			wantLabels: emptyLabels,
+			wantLabels: prometheus.Labels{},
 			reqMethod:  "GET",
 			respStatus: 200,
 			ok:         true,