diff --git a/internal/controller/operator/factory/build/container.go b/internal/controller/operator/factory/build/container.go
index 9f8c933765..4695da578d 100644
--- a/internal/controller/operator/factory/build/container.go
+++ b/internal/controller/operator/factory/build/container.go
@@ -781,7 +781,7 @@ func AddOTLPGRPCArgsTo(dst []string, grpcSpec *vmv1.OTLPGRPCSpec, tlsServerConfi
 
 	tlsC := grpcSpec.TLSConfig
 	if tlsC == nil {
-		return dst
+		return append(dst, "-otlpGRPC.tls=false")
 	}
 	dst = append(dst, "-otlpGRPC.tls=true")
 	switch {
diff --git a/internal/controller/operator/factory/build/container_test.go b/internal/controller/operator/factory/build/container_test.go
index 0e2b2649b7..35730015b1 100644
--- a/internal/controller/operator/factory/build/container_test.go
+++ b/internal/controller/operator/factory/build/container_test.go
@@ -464,6 +464,7 @@ func TestAddOTLPGRPCArgsTo(t *testing.T) {
 	// no tls
 	f(&vmv1.OTLPGRPCSpec{ListenPort: 4317}, []string{
 		"-otlpGRPCListenAddr=:4317",
+		"-otlpGRPC.tls=false",
 	})
 
 	// with tls, cert/key from files