diff --git a/pkg/constants/env.go b/pkg/constants/env.go
index bbd67ef..d2d9b0e 100644
--- a/pkg/constants/env.go
+++ b/pkg/constants/env.go
@@ -30,4 +30,5 @@ const (
 
 	EnvNewRelicAppName    = "NEW_RELIC_APP_NAME"
 	EnvNewRelicLicenseKey = "NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY"
+	EnvNewRelicLabels     = "NEW_RELIC_LABELS"
 )
diff --git a/pkg/instrumentation/sdk.go b/pkg/instrumentation/sdk.go
index fa82af7..6f14032 100644
--- a/pkg/instrumentation/sdk.go
+++ b/pkg/instrumentation/sdk.go
@@ -323,6 +323,13 @@ func (i *sdkInjector) injectNewrelicConfig(ctx context.Context, newrelic v1alpha
 			},
 		})
 	}
+	idx = getIndexOfEnv(container.Env, constants.EnvNewRelicLabels)
+	if idx == -1 {
+		container.Env = append(container.Env, corev1.EnvVar{
+			Name:  "NEW_RELIC_LABELS",
+			Value: "operator:auto-injection",
+		})
+	}
 	return pod
 }