diff --git a/pkg/prometheus/prometheus_test.go b/pkg/prometheus/prometheus_test.go
index c455a4e7b..49e9bc0cc 100644
--- a/pkg/prometheus/prometheus_test.go
+++ b/pkg/prometheus/prometheus_test.go
@@ -364,6 +364,28 @@ func TestVerifier(t *testing.T) {
 			),
 			WantVerifierCreationErr: true,
 		},
+		{
+			Name: "Prometheus metric name starts with reserved prefix",
+			Registration: newMetricRegistration(&metricMetadata{
+				PB: &pb.MetricMetadata{
+					Name:           "metaFooBar",
+					PrometheusName: "meta_foo_bar",
+					Type:           pb.MetricMetadata_TYPE_UINT64,
+				}},
+			),
+			WantVerifierCreationErr: true,
+		},
+		{
+			Name: "Prometheus metric name does not starts with reserved prefix but non-Prometheus metric name does",
+			Registration: newMetricRegistration(&metricMetadata{
+				PB: &pb.MetricMetadata{
+					Name:           "metaFooBar",
+					PrometheusName: "not_meta_foo_bar",
+					Type:           pb.MetricMetadata_TYPE_UINT64,
+				}},
+			),
+			WantVerifierCreationErr: false,
+		},
 		{
 			Name: "no buckets",
 			Registration: newMetricRegistration(&metricMetadata{
diff --git a/pkg/prometheus/prometheus_verify.go b/pkg/prometheus/prometheus_verify.go
index 5cf85296f..78204487f 100644
--- a/pkg/prometheus/prometheus_verify.go
+++ b/pkg/prometheus/prometheus_verify.go
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ const (
 	// maxExportStaleness is the maximum allowed age of a snapshot when it is verified.
 	// Used to avoid exporting snapshots from bogus times from ages past.
 	maxExportStaleness = 10 * time.Second
+
+	// MetaMetricPrefix is a prefix used for metrics defined by the metric server,
+	// as opposed to metrics generated by each sandbox.
+	// For this reason, this prefix is not allowed to be used in sandbox metrics.
+	MetaMetricPrefix = "meta_"
 )
 
 // internedStringMap allows for interning strings.
@@ -260,6 +265,9 @@ func newVerifiableMetric(metadata *pb.MetricMetadata, verifier *Verifier) (*veri
 	if metadata.GetName() == "" || metadata.GetPrometheusName() == "" {
 		return nil, errors.New("metric has no name")
 	}
+	if strings.HasPrefix(metadata.GetPrometheusName(), MetaMetricPrefix) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("metric name %q starts with %q which is a reserved prefix", metadata.GetPrometheusName(), "meta_")
+	}
 	if !unicode.IsLower(rune(metadata.GetPrometheusName()[0])) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid initial character in prometheus metric name: %q", metadata.GetPrometheusName())
 	}
diff --git a/runsc/cmd/metric_server.go b/runsc/cmd/metric_server.go
index 952d327d6..7512775b2 100644
--- a/runsc/cmd/metric_server.go
+++ b/runsc/cmd/metric_server.go
@@ -701,7 +701,7 @@ func (m *MetricServer) serveMetrics(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) ht
 	// Meanwhile, build the map of all snapshots we will be rendering.
 	snapshotsToOptions := make(map[*prometheus.Snapshot]prometheus.SnapshotExportOptions, numSandboxes+2)
 	snapshotsToOptions[selfMetrics] = prometheus.SnapshotExportOptions{
-		ExporterPrefix: fmt.Sprintf("%smeta_", m.exporterPrefix),
+		ExporterPrefix: fmt.Sprintf("%s%s", m.exporterPrefix, prometheus.MetaMetricPrefix),
 	}
 	processMetrics := prometheus.NewSnapshot()
 	processMetrics.Add(prometheus.NewFloatData(&ProcessStartTimeMetric, float64(m.startTime.Unix())+(float64(m.startTime.Nanosecond())/1e9)))