diff --git a/pkg/apis/flagger/v1beta1/canary.go b/pkg/apis/flagger/v1beta1/canary.go
index 5251fe823..6106d143d 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/flagger/v1beta1/canary.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/flagger/v1beta1/canary.go
@@ -171,15 +171,15 @@ type CanaryService struct {
 
 	// Apex is metadata to add to the apex service
 	// +optional
-	Apex CustomMetadata `json:"apex,omitempty"`
+	Apex *CustomMetadata `json:"apex,omitempty"`
 
 	// Primary is the metadata to add to the primary service
 	// +optional
-	Primary CustomMetadata `json:"primary,omitempty"`
+	Primary *CustomMetadata `json:"primary,omitempty"`
 
 	// Canary is the metadata to add to the canary service
 	// +optional
-	Canary CustomMetadata `json:"canary,omitempty"`
+	Canary *CustomMetadata `json:"canary,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // CanaryAnalysis is used to describe how the analysis should be done
diff --git a/pkg/apis/flagger/v1beta1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/pkg/apis/flagger/v1beta1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index c1a7d3500..31ec068e1 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/flagger/v1beta1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/flagger/v1beta1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -364,9 +364,21 @@ func (in *CanaryService) DeepCopyInto(out *CanaryService) {
 		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
 		copy(*out, *in)
 	}
-	in.Apex.DeepCopyInto(&out.Apex)
-	in.Primary.DeepCopyInto(&out.Primary)
-	in.Canary.DeepCopyInto(&out.Canary)
+	if in.Apex != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Apex, &out.Apex
+		*out = new(CustomMetadata)
+		(*in).DeepCopyInto(*out)
+	}
+	if in.Primary != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Primary, &out.Primary
+		*out = new(CustomMetadata)
+		(*in).DeepCopyInto(*out)
+	}
+	if in.Canary != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Canary, &out.Canary
+		*out = new(CustomMetadata)
+		(*in).DeepCopyInto(*out)
+	}
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/router/kubernetes_default.go b/pkg/router/kubernetes_default.go
index addb07afa..16ab28e35 100644
--- a/pkg/router/kubernetes_default.go
+++ b/pkg/router/kubernetes_default.go
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ func (c *KubernetesDefaultRouter) GetRoutes(_ *flaggerv1.Canary) (primaryRoute i
 	return 0, 0, nil
 }
 
-func (c *KubernetesDefaultRouter) reconcileService(canary *flaggerv1.Canary, name string, podSelector string, metadata flaggerv1.CustomMetadata) error {
+func (c *KubernetesDefaultRouter) reconcileService(canary *flaggerv1.Canary, name string, podSelector string, metadata *flaggerv1.CustomMetadata) error {
 	portName := canary.Spec.Service.PortName
 	if portName == "" {
 		portName = "http"
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ func (c *KubernetesDefaultRouter) Finalize(canary *flaggerv1.Canary) error {
 				return fmt.Errorf("service %s update error: %w", clone.Name, err)
 			}
 		} else {
-			err = c.reconcileService(canary, apexName, canary.Spec.TargetRef.Name, canary.Spec.Service.Apex)
+			err = c.reconcileService(canary, apexName, canary.Spec.TargetRef.Name, nil)
 			if err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("reconcileService failed: %w", err)
 			}