diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
index 2d90030d210..2f1e10e1607 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22/daemon"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/metric/noop"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
 	jsonpatch "gopkg.in/evanphx/json-patch.v4"
@@ -121,6 +123,9 @@ import (
 
 func init() {
 	utilruntime.Must(logsapi.AddFeatureGates(utilfeature.DefaultMutableFeatureGate))
+	// Prevent memory leak from OTel metrics, which we don't use:
+	// https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib/issues/5190
+	otel.SetMeterProvider(noop.NewMeterProvider())
 }
 
 const (
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 653bcc1ae7d..f9292dc961f 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ require (
 	go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/github.com/emicklei/go-restful/otelrestful v0.42.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel v1.28.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/otlp/otlptrace/otlptracegrpc v1.27.0
+	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/metric v1.28.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk v1.28.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace v1.28.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/proto/otlp v1.3.1
@@ -206,7 +207,6 @@ require (
 	go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc v0.53.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp v0.53.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/otlp/otlptrace v1.28.0 // indirect
-	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/metric v1.28.0 // indirect
 	go.starlark.net v0.0.0-20230525235612-a134d8f9ddca // indirect
 	go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230515195305-f3d0a9c9a5cc // indirect
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/go.mod b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/go.mod
index 7310281dd2f..2634143838b 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/go.mod
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/go.mod
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ require (
 	go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp v0.53.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel v1.28.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/otlp/otlptrace/otlptracegrpc v1.27.0
+	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/metric v1.28.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk v1.28.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace v1.28.0
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.26.0
@@ -110,7 +111,6 @@ require (
 	go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/v3 v3.5.13 // indirect
 	go.etcd.io/etcd/raft/v3 v3.5.13 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/otlp/otlptrace v1.28.0 // indirect
-	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/metric v1.28.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/proto/otlp v1.3.1 // indirect
 	go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230515195305-f3d0a9c9a5cc // indirect
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/tracing.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/tracing.go
index d56e7df511d..7be62fad04c 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/tracing.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/tracing.go
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ import (
 	"net"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/otlp/otlptrace/otlptracegrpc"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/metric/noop"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk/resource"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/semconv/v1.12.0"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
@@ -48,6 +50,12 @@ var (
 	codecs    = serializer.NewCodecFactory(cfgScheme)
 )
 
+func init() {
+	// Prevent memory leak from OTel metrics, which we don't use:
+	// https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib/issues/5190
+	otel.SetMeterProvider(noop.NewMeterProvider())
+}
+
 func init() {
 	install.Install(cfgScheme)
 }