diff --git a/cmd/containerd/server/server.go b/cmd/containerd/server/server.go
index 482276e7b..f2efce9ba 100644
--- a/cmd/containerd/server/server.go
+++ b/cmd/containerd/server/server.go
@@ -37,9 +37,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containerd/log"
 	"github.com/containerd/ttrpc"
 	"github.com/docker/go-metrics"
-	grpc_prometheus "github.com/grpc-ecosystem/go-grpc-middleware/providers/prometheus"
 	v1 "github.com/opencontainers/image-spec/specs-go/v1"
-	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/backoff"
@@ -151,25 +149,10 @@ func New(ctx context.Context, config *srvconfig.Config) (*Server, error) {
 		diff.RegisterProcessor(diff.BinaryHandler(id, p.Returns, p.Accepts, p.Path, p.Args, p.Env))
 	}
 
-	var prometheusServerMetricsOpts []grpc_prometheus.ServerMetricsOption
-	if config.Metrics.GRPCHistogram {
-		// Enable grpc time histograms to measure rpc latencies
-		prometheusServerMetricsOpts = append(prometheusServerMetricsOpts, grpc_prometheus.WithServerHandlingTimeHistogram())
-	}
-
-	prometheusServerMetrics := grpc_prometheus.NewServerMetrics(prometheusServerMetricsOpts...)
-	prometheus.MustRegister(prometheusServerMetrics)
-
 	serverOpts := []grpc.ServerOption{
 		grpc.StatsHandler(otelgrpc.NewServerHandler()),
-		grpc.ChainStreamInterceptor(
-			streamNamespaceInterceptor,
-			prometheusServerMetrics.StreamServerInterceptor(),
-		),
-		grpc.ChainUnaryInterceptor(
-			unaryNamespaceInterceptor,
-			prometheusServerMetrics.UnaryServerInterceptor(),
-		),
+		grpc.StreamInterceptor(streamNamespaceInterceptor),
+		grpc.UnaryInterceptor(unaryNamespaceInterceptor),
 	}
 	if config.GRPC.MaxRecvMsgSize > 0 {
 		serverOpts = append(serverOpts, grpc.MaxRecvMsgSize(config.GRPC.MaxRecvMsgSize))
@@ -229,11 +212,10 @@ func New(ctx context.Context, config *srvconfig.Config) (*Server, error) {
 		ttrpcServices []ttrpcService
 
 		s = &Server{
-			prometheusServerMetrics: prometheusServerMetrics,
-			grpcServer:              grpcServer,
-			tcpServer:               tcpServer,
-			ttrpcServer:             ttrpcServer,
-			config:                  config,
+			grpcServer:  grpcServer,
+			tcpServer:   tcpServer,
+			ttrpcServer: ttrpcServer,
+			config:      config,
 		}
 		initialized = plugin.NewPluginSet()
 		required    = make(map[string]struct{})
@@ -381,18 +363,16 @@ func recordConfigDeprecations(ctx context.Context, config *srvconfig.Config, set
 
 // Server is the containerd main daemon
 type Server struct {
-	prometheusServerMetrics *grpc_prometheus.ServerMetrics
-	grpcServer              *grpc.Server
-	ttrpcServer             *ttrpc.Server
-	tcpServer               *grpc.Server
-	config                  *srvconfig.Config
-	plugins                 []*plugin.Plugin
-	ready                   sync.WaitGroup
+	grpcServer  *grpc.Server
+	ttrpcServer *ttrpc.Server
+	tcpServer   *grpc.Server
+	config      *srvconfig.Config
+	plugins     []*plugin.Plugin
+	ready       sync.WaitGroup
 }
 
 // ServeGRPC provides the containerd grpc APIs on the provided listener
 func (s *Server) ServeGRPC(l net.Listener) error {
-	s.prometheusServerMetrics.InitializeMetrics(s.grpcServer)
 	return trapClosedConnErr(s.grpcServer.Serve(l))
 }
 
@@ -414,7 +394,6 @@ func (s *Server) ServeMetrics(l net.Listener) error {
 
 // ServeTCP allows services to serve over tcp
 func (s *Server) ServeTCP(l net.Listener) error {
-	s.prometheusServerMetrics.InitializeMetrics(s.tcpServer)
 	return trapClosedConnErr(s.tcpServer.Serve(l))
 }