diff --git a/internal/collector/otel_collector_plugin.go b/internal/collector/otel_collector_plugin.go
index 37f4c6401..ca89b9da5 100644
--- a/internal/collector/otel_collector_plugin.go
+++ b/internal/collector/otel_collector_plugin.go
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ func New(conf *config.Config) (*Collector, error) {
 		return nil, errors.New("nil collector config")
 	}
 
-	if conf.Collector.Log != nil && conf.Collector.Log.Path != "" {
+	if conf.Collector.Log != nil && conf.Collector.Log.Path != "" && conf.Collector.Log.Path != "stdout" {
 		err := os.WriteFile(conf.Collector.Log.Path, []byte{}, filePermission)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
diff --git a/internal/collector/otelcol.tmpl b/internal/collector/otelcol.tmpl
index c5136030f..bad9f68b6 100644
--- a/internal/collector/otelcol.tmpl
+++ b/internal/collector/otelcol.tmpl
@@ -219,8 +219,10 @@ extensions:
 {{- end }}
 
 service:
-  {{- if .Log.Path}}
   telemetry:
+    metrics:
+      level: none
+  {{- if .Log.Path}}
     logs:
       level: {{ .Log.Level }}
       output_paths: ["{{ .Log.Path -}}"]
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index c091ead56..4b2feb20d 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -169,6 +169,10 @@ func defaultCollector(collector *Collector, config *Config) {
 			CollectionInterval: 1 * time.Minute,
 			InitialDelay:       1 * time.Second,
 		}
+		collector.Log = &Log{
+			Path:  "stdout",
+			Level: "info",
+		}
 	} else {
 		collector.Receivers.HostMetrics = &HostMetrics{
 			Scrapers: &HostMetricsScrapers{
diff --git a/test/config/collector/test-opentelemetry-collector-agent.yaml b/test/config/collector/test-opentelemetry-collector-agent.yaml
index 7ad37e494..fb9e09d70 100644
--- a/test/config/collector/test-opentelemetry-collector-agent.yaml
+++ b/test/config/collector/test-opentelemetry-collector-agent.yaml
@@ -91,6 +91,8 @@ extensions:
 
 service:
   telemetry:
+    metrics:
+      level: none
     logs:
       level: INFO
       output_paths: ["/var/log/nginx-agent/opentelemetry-collector-agent.log"]