diff --git a/internal/ingress/metric/collectors/socket.go b/internal/ingress/metric/collectors/socket.go
index 0bdd816ae1..1feb785af7 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/metric/collectors/socket.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/metric/collectors/socket.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net"
 	"os"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"
 
@@ -98,6 +99,19 @@ var requestTags = []string{
 	"canary",
 }
 
+var validHTTPMethods = []string{
+	// Unless otherwise noted, these are defined in RFC 7231 section 4.3.
+	"GET",
+	"HEAD",
+	"POST",
+	"PUT",
+	"PATCH", // RFC 5789
+	"DELETE",
+	"CONNECT",
+	"OPTIONS",
+	"TRACE",
+}
+
 // NewSocketCollector creates a new SocketCollector instance using
 // the ingress watch namespace and class used by the controller
 func NewSocketCollector(pod, namespace, class string, metricsPerHost, metricsPerUndefinedHost, reportStatusClasses bool, buckets HistogramBuckets, bucketFactor float64, maxBuckets uint32, excludeMetrics []string) (*SocketCollector, error) {
@@ -316,6 +330,9 @@ func (sc *SocketCollector) handleMessage(msg []byte) {
 		if sc.reportStatusClasses && stats.Status != "" {
 			stats.Status = fmt.Sprintf("%cxx", stats.Status[0])
 		}
+		if !slices.Contains(validHTTPMethods, stats.Method) {
+			stats.Method = "invalid_method"
+		}
 
 		// Note these must match the order in requestTags at the top
 		requestLabels := prometheus.Labels{
diff --git a/internal/ingress/metric/collectors/socket_test.go b/internal/ingress/metric/collectors/socket_test.go
index 3a1f29f35d..0d3e62ed26 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/metric/collectors/socket_test.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/metric/collectors/socket_test.go
@@ -648,6 +648,37 @@ func TestCollector(t *testing.T) {
 			metrics:          []string{"nginx_ingress_controller_requests"},
 			useStatusClasses: true,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "invalid http methods should not be set as label values",
+			data: []string{`[{
+				"host":"testshop.com",
+				"status":"200",
+				"bytesSent":150.0,
+				"method":"XYZGET",
+				"path":"/admin",
+				"requestLength":300.0,
+				"requestTime":60.0,
+				"upstreamLatency":1.0,
+				"upstreamHeaderTime":5.0,
+				"upstreamName":"test-upstream",
+				"upstreamIP":"1.1.1.1:8080",
+				"upstreamResponseTime":200,
+				"upstreamStatus":"220",
+				"namespace":"test-app-production",
+				"ingress":"web-yml",
+				"service":"test-app",
+				"canary":""
+			}]`},
+			metrics: []string{"nginx_ingress_controller_requests"},
+			wantBefore: `
+				# HELP nginx_ingress_controller_requests The total number of client requests
+				# TYPE nginx_ingress_controller_requests counter
+				nginx_ingress_controller_requests{canary="",controller_class="ingress",controller_namespace="default",controller_pod="pod",host="testshop.com",ingress="web-yml",method="invalid_method",namespace="test-app-production",path="/admin",service="test-app",status="200"} 1
+			`,
+			removeIngresses: []string{"test-app-production/web-yml"},
+			wantAfter: `
+			`,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, c := range cases {