diff --git a/templates/node-scraper.j2 b/templates/node-scraper.j2
index 8d9ada1..aa84866 100644
--- a/templates/node-scraper.j2
+++ b/templates/node-scraper.j2
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 {% for t in job.targets %}
     - {{ t }}
 {% endfor %}
-    labels: {{ merged_prometheus_labels|combine(job.labels)|to_json }}
+    labels: {{ merged_prometheus_labels|combine(job.labels|d({}))|to_json }}
   tls_config:
     ca_file: /etc/prometheus/targetcerts/{{ inventory_hostname }}.crt
     cert_file: /etc/ssl/prometheus_scraper.crt