diff --git a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
index 6aa58f757e5..d9522335487 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ field. You can revert this change by configuring tags for the module and omittin
 - [Autodiscover] Check if runner is already running before starting again. {pull}18564[18564]
 - Fix `keystore add` hanging under Windows. {issue}18649[18649] {pull}18654[18654]
 - Fix an issue where error messages are not accurate in mapstriface. {issue}18662[18662] {pull}18663[18663]
+- Fix regression in `add_kubernetes_metadata`, so configured `indexers` and `matchers` are used if defaults are not disabled. {issue}18481[18481] {pull}18818[18818]
 
 *Auditbeat*
 
diff --git a/libbeat/processors/add_kubernetes_metadata/kubernetes.go b/libbeat/processors/add_kubernetes_metadata/kubernetes.go
index 9b7bc5653f8..94bc3739145 100644
--- a/libbeat/processors/add_kubernetes_metadata/kubernetes.go
+++ b/libbeat/processors/add_kubernetes_metadata/kubernetes.go
@@ -90,24 +90,12 @@ func isKubernetesAvailableWithRetry(client k8sclient.Interface) bool {
 
 // New constructs a new add_kubernetes_metadata processor.
 func New(cfg *common.Config) (processors.Processor, error) {
-	config := defaultKubernetesAnnotatorConfig()
-	log := logp.NewLogger(selector).With("libbeat.processor", "add_kubernetes_metadata")
-
-	err := cfg.Unpack(&config)
+	config, err := newProcessorConfig(cfg, Indexing)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("fail to unpack the kubernetes configuration: %s", err)
-	}
-
-	//Load default indexer configs
-	if config.DefaultIndexers.Enabled == true {
-		config.Indexers = Indexing.GetDefaultIndexerConfigs()
-	}
-
-	//Load default matcher configs
-	if config.DefaultMatchers.Enabled == true {
-		config.Matchers = Indexing.GetDefaultMatcherConfigs()
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	log := logp.NewLogger(selector).With("libbeat.processor", "add_kubernetes_metadata")
 	processor := &kubernetesAnnotator{
 		log:                 log,
 		cache:               newCache(config.CleanupTimeout),
@@ -121,6 +109,27 @@ func New(cfg *common.Config) (processors.Processor, error) {
 	return processor, nil
 }
 
+func newProcessorConfig(cfg *common.Config, register *Register) (kubeAnnotatorConfig, error) {
+	config := defaultKubernetesAnnotatorConfig()
+
+	err := cfg.Unpack(&config)
+	if err != nil {
+		return config, fmt.Errorf("fail to unpack the kubernetes configuration: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	//Load and append default indexer configs
+	if config.DefaultIndexers.Enabled {
+		config.Indexers = append(config.Indexers, register.GetDefaultIndexerConfigs()...)
+	}
+
+	//Load and append default matcher configs
+	if config.DefaultMatchers.Enabled {
+		config.Matchers = append(config.Matchers, register.GetDefaultMatcherConfigs()...)
+	}
+
+	return config, nil
+}
+
 func (k *kubernetesAnnotator) init(config kubeAnnotatorConfig, cfg *common.Config) {
 	k.initOnce.Do(func() {
 		client, err := kubernetes.GetKubernetesClient(config.KubeConfig)
diff --git a/libbeat/processors/add_kubernetes_metadata/kubernetes_test.go b/libbeat/processors/add_kubernetes_metadata/kubernetes_test.go
index dec8f446fdc..a687fe6f8e3 100644
--- a/libbeat/processors/add_kubernetes_metadata/kubernetes_test.go
+++ b/libbeat/processors/add_kubernetes_metadata/kubernetes_test.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 
 	"github.com/elastic/beats/v7/libbeat/beat"
 	"github.com/elastic/beats/v7/libbeat/common"
@@ -128,3 +129,103 @@ func TestAnnotatorWithNoKubernetesAvailable(t *testing.T) {
 
 	assert.Equal(t, intialEventMap, event.Fields)
 }
+
+// TestNewProcessorConfigDefaultIndexers validates the behaviour of default indexers and
+// matchers settings
+func TestNewProcessorConfigDefaultIndexers(t *testing.T) {
+	emptyRegister := NewRegister()
+	registerWithDefaults := NewRegister()
+	registerWithDefaults.AddDefaultIndexerConfig("ip_port", *common.NewConfig())
+	registerWithDefaults.AddDefaultMatcherConfig("field_format", *common.MustNewConfigFrom(map[string]interface{}{
+		"format": "%{[destination.ip]}:%{[destination.port]}",
+	}))
+
+	configWithIndexersAndMatchers := common.MustNewConfigFrom(map[string]interface{}{
+		"indexers": []map[string]interface{}{
+			{
+				"container": map[string]interface{}{},
+			},
+		},
+		"matchers": []map[string]interface{}{
+			{
+				"fields": map[string]interface{}{
+					"lookup_fields": []string{"container.id"},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	})
+	configOverrideDefaults := common.MustNewConfigFrom(map[string]interface{}{
+		"default_indexers.enabled": "false",
+		"default_matchers.enabled": "false",
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, configOverrideDefaults.Merge(configWithIndexersAndMatchers))
+
+	cases := map[string]struct {
+		register         *Register
+		config           *common.Config
+		expectedMatchers []string
+		expectedIndexers []string
+	}{
+		"no matchers": {
+			register: emptyRegister,
+			config:   common.NewConfig(),
+		},
+		"one configured indexer and matcher": {
+			register:         emptyRegister,
+			config:           configWithIndexersAndMatchers,
+			expectedIndexers: []string{"container"},
+			expectedMatchers: []string{"fields"},
+		},
+		"default indexers and matchers": {
+			register:         registerWithDefaults,
+			config:           common.NewConfig(),
+			expectedIndexers: []string{"ip_port"},
+			expectedMatchers: []string{"field_format"},
+		},
+		"default indexers and matchers, don't use indexers": {
+			register: registerWithDefaults,
+			config: common.MustNewConfigFrom(map[string]interface{}{
+				"default_indexers.enabled": "false",
+			}),
+			expectedMatchers: []string{"field_format"},
+		},
+		"default indexers and matchers, don't use matchers": {
+			register: registerWithDefaults,
+			config: common.MustNewConfigFrom(map[string]interface{}{
+				"default_matchers.enabled": "false",
+			}),
+			expectedIndexers: []string{"ip_port"},
+		},
+		"one configured indexer and matcher and defaults, configured should come first": {
+			register:         registerWithDefaults,
+			config:           configWithIndexersAndMatchers,
+			expectedIndexers: []string{"container", "ip_port"},
+			expectedMatchers: []string{"fields", "field_format"},
+		},
+		"override defaults": {
+			register:         registerWithDefaults,
+			config:           configOverrideDefaults,
+			expectedIndexers: []string{"container"},
+			expectedMatchers: []string{"fields"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	names := func(plugins PluginConfig) []string {
+		var ns []string
+		for _, plugin := range plugins {
+			for name := range plugin {
+				ns = append(ns, name)
+			}
+		}
+		return ns
+	}
+
+	for title, c := range cases {
+		t.Run(title, func(t *testing.T) {
+			config, err := newProcessorConfig(c.config, c.register)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(t, c.expectedMatchers, names(config.Matchers), "expected matchers")
+			assert.Equal(t, c.expectedIndexers, names(config.Indexers), "expected indexers")
+		})
+	}
+}