diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
index 2058a9dd0c..c3a887417d 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ The following tip changes can be tested by building VictoriaMetrics components f
 
 ## v1.87.x long-time support release (LTS)
 
+* BUGFIX: [vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmagent.html): do not register `vm_promscrape_config_*` metrics if `-promscrape.config` flag is not used. Previously those metrics were registered and never updated, which was confusing and could trigger false-positive alerts.
 * BUGFIX: [vmctl](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmctl.html): skip measurements with no fields when migrating data from influxdb. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/3837).
 
 ## [v1.87.2](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/releases/tag/v1.87.2)
diff --git a/lib/promscrape/scraper.go b/lib/promscrape/scraper.go
index 0686e47c25..ff1666b783 100644
--- a/lib/promscrape/scraper.go
+++ b/lib/promscrape/scraper.go
@@ -102,6 +102,8 @@ func runScraper(configFile string, pushData func(at *auth.Token, wr *prompbmarsh
 		return
 	}
 
+	metrics.RegisterSet(configMetricsSet)
+
 	// Register SIGHUP handler for config reload before loadConfig.
 	// This guarantees that the config will be re-read if the signal arrives just after loadConfig.
 	// See https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/1240
@@ -198,10 +200,11 @@ func runScraper(configFile string, pushData func(at *auth.Token, wr *prompbmarsh
 }
 
 var (
-	configReloads      = metrics.NewCounter(`vm_promscrape_config_reloads_total`)
-	configReloadErrors = metrics.NewCounter(`vm_promscrape_config_reloads_errors_total`)
-	configSuccess      = metrics.NewCounter(`vm_promscrape_config_last_reload_successful`)
-	configTimestamp    = metrics.NewCounter(`vm_promscrape_config_last_reload_success_timestamp_seconds`)
+	configMetricsSet   = metrics.NewSet()
+	configReloads      = configMetricsSet.NewCounter(`vm_promscrape_config_reloads_total`)
+	configReloadErrors = configMetricsSet.NewCounter(`vm_promscrape_config_reloads_errors_total`)
+	configSuccess      = configMetricsSet.NewCounter(`vm_promscrape_config_last_reload_successful`)
+	configTimestamp    = configMetricsSet.NewCounter(`vm_promscrape_config_last_reload_success_timestamp_seconds`)
 )
 
 type scrapeConfigs struct {