diff --git a/cmd/containerd/builtins.go b/cmd/containerd/builtins.go
index a21d4a5db..4149cd7e4 100644
--- a/cmd/containerd/builtins.go
+++ b/cmd/containerd/builtins.go
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 	_ "github.com/containerd/containerd/services/execution"
 	_ "github.com/containerd/containerd/services/healthcheck"
 	_ "github.com/containerd/containerd/services/images"
-	_ "github.com/containerd/containerd/services/metrics"
 	_ "github.com/containerd/containerd/services/namespaces"
 	_ "github.com/containerd/containerd/services/snapshot"
 	_ "github.com/containerd/containerd/services/version"
diff --git a/cmd/containerd/main.go b/cmd/containerd/main.go
index a76f1070b..e433156cf 100644
--- a/cmd/containerd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/containerd/main.go
@@ -147,6 +147,8 @@ func main() {
 				return err
 			}
 		}
+		// register metrics last after all other services
+		grpc_prometheus.Register(server)
 		log.G(global).Info("starting GRPC API server...")
 		if err := serveGRPC(server); err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/services/metrics/metrics.go b/services/metrics/metrics.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 73e4b4097..000000000
--- a/services/metrics/metrics.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-package metrics
-
-import (
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/plugin"
-	grpc_prometheus "github.com/grpc-ecosystem/go-grpc-prometheus"
-	"google.golang.org/grpc"
-)
-
-func init() {
-	plugin.Register("metrics-grpc", &plugin.Registration{
-		Type: plugin.GRPCPlugin,
-		Init: New,
-	})
-}
-
-func New(_ *plugin.InitContext) (interface{}, error) {
-	return &Service{}, nil
-}
-
-type Service struct {
-}
-
-func (s *Service) Register(server *grpc.Server) error {
-	grpc_prometheus.Register(server)
-	return nil
-}