diff --git a/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_conf.c b/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_conf.c
index e4b72b4e1a7..79769e753e9 100644
--- a/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_conf.c
+++ b/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_conf.c
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ struct flb_kube *flb_kube_conf_create(struct flb_filter_instance *i,
     }
     ctx->config = config;
     ctx->merge_log = FLB_FALSE;
+    ctx->keep_log = FLB_TRUE;
     ctx->labels = FLB_TRUE;
     ctx->annotations = FLB_TRUE;
     ctx->dummy_meta = FLB_FALSE;
@@ -118,6 +119,12 @@ struct flb_kube *flb_kube_conf_create(struct flb_filter_instance *i,
         ctx->merge_log_trim = FLB_TRUE;
     }
 
+    /* Keep original log key after successful parsing */
+    tmp = flb_filter_get_property("keep_log", i);
+    if (tmp) {
+        ctx->keep_log = flb_utils_bool(tmp);
+    }
+
     /* Get Kubernetes API server */
     url = flb_filter_get_property("kube_url", i);
     if (!url) {
diff --git a/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_conf.h b/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_conf.h
index 38b8be2f7cb..e2c941d1fa5 100644
--- a/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_conf.h
+++ b/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kube_conf.h
@@ -95,6 +95,9 @@ struct flb_kube {
     int merge_log_key_len;
     char *merge_log_key;
 
+    /* Keep original log key after successful parsing */
+    int keep_log;
+
     /* API Server end point */
     char kube_url[1024];
 
diff --git a/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kubernetes.c b/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kubernetes.c
index f41bc3ec256..ef450a2e31d 100644
--- a/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kubernetes.c
+++ b/plugins/filter_kubernetes/kubernetes.c
@@ -316,6 +316,10 @@ static int pack_map_content(msgpack_packer *pck, msgpack_sbuffer *sbuf,
         new_map_size += log_buf_entries;
     }
 
+    if (merge_status == MERGE_PARSED && ctx->keep_log == FLB_FALSE) {
+        new_map_size--;
+    }
+
     msgpack_pack_map(pck, new_map_size);
 
     /* Original map */
@@ -330,9 +334,11 @@ static int pack_map_content(msgpack_packer *pck, msgpack_sbuffer *sbuf,
          */
         if (log_index == i &&
             (merge_status == MERGE_UNESCAPED || merge_status == MERGE_PARSED)) {
-            msgpack_pack_object(pck, k);
-            msgpack_pack_str(pck, ctx->unesc_buf_len);
-            msgpack_pack_str_body(pck, ctx->unesc_buf, ctx->unesc_buf_len);
+            if (merge_status == MERGE_UNESCAPED || ctx->keep_log == FLB_TRUE) {
+                msgpack_pack_object(pck, k);
+                msgpack_pack_str(pck, ctx->unesc_buf_len);
+                msgpack_pack_str_body(pck, ctx->unesc_buf, ctx->unesc_buf_len);
+            }
         }
         else { /* MERGE_BINARY ? */
             msgpack_pack_object(pck, k);