diff --git a/instrumentation/runtime-metrics/library/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/instrumentation/runtimemetrics/GarbageCollector.java b/instrumentation/runtime-metrics/library/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/instrumentation/runtimemetrics/GarbageCollector.java
index 455c77c35aca..80352ef4cb5c 100644
--- a/instrumentation/runtime-metrics/library/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/instrumentation/runtimemetrics/GarbageCollector.java
+++ b/instrumentation/runtime-metrics/library/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/instrumentation/runtimemetrics/GarbageCollector.java
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public static void registerObservers(OpenTelemetry openTelemetry) {
         .counterBuilder("runtime.jvm.gc.count")
         .setDescription(
             "The number of collections that have occurred for a given JVM garbage collector.")
-        .setUnit("collections")
+        .setUnit("{collections}")
         .buildWithCallback(
             resultLongObserver -> {
               for (int i = 0; i < garbageCollectors.size(); i++) {