diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 369332d..37cd74a 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ var (
 	collectInterfaceFeatures = flag.Bool("collector.interface-features.enable", true, "Collect interface features")
 	excludeInterfaces        = flag.String("exclude.interfaces", "", "Comma seperated list of interfaces to exclude")
 	includeInterfaces        = flag.String("include.interfaces", "", "Comma seperated list of interfaces to include")
+	excludeInterfacesDown    = flag.Bool("exclude.interfaces-down", false, "Don't report on interfaces being management DOWN")
 	powerUnitdBm             = flag.Bool("collector.optical-power-in-dbm", false, "Report optical powers in dBm instead of mW (default false -> mW)")
 )
 
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ func handleMetricsRequest(w http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Request) {
 			includedIfaceNames[index] = strings.Trim(includedIfaceName, " ")
 		}
 	}
-	transceiverCollector := transceivercollector.NewCollector(excludedIfaceNames, includedIfaceNames, *collectInterfaceFeatures, *powerUnitdBm)
+	transceiverCollector := transceivercollector.NewCollector(excludedIfaceNames, includedIfaceNames, *excludeInterfacesDown, *collectInterfaceFeatures, *powerUnitdBm)
 	wrapper := &transceiverCollectorWrapper{
 		collector: transceiverCollector,
 	}
diff --git a/transceiver-collector/collector.go b/transceiver-collector/collector.go
index 040c1f5..88f4c0b 100644
--- a/transceiver-collector/collector.go
+++ b/transceiver-collector/collector.go
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ var laserLabels = []string{"interface", "laser_index"}
 type TransceiverCollector struct {
 	excludeInterfaces        []string
 	includeInterfaces        []string
+	excludeInterfacesDown    bool
 	collectInterfaceFeatures bool
 	powerUnitdBm             bool
 }
@@ -173,7 +174,7 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 // NewCollector initializes a new TransceiverCollector
-func NewCollector(excludeInterfaces []string, includeInterfaces []string, collectInterfaceFeatures bool, powerUnitdBm bool) *TransceiverCollector {
+func NewCollector(excludeInterfaces []string, includeInterfaces []string, excludeInterfacesDown bool, collectInterfaceFeatures bool, powerUnitdBm bool) *TransceiverCollector {
 	laserTxPowerThresholdsSupportedDesc = prometheus.NewDesc(prefix+"laser_tx_power_supports_thresholds_bool", "1 if thresholds for the laser tx power are supported", laserLabels, nil)
 	laserRxPowerThresholdsSupportedDesc = prometheus.NewDesc(prefix+"laser_rx_power_supports_thresholds_bool", "1 if thresholds for the laser rx power are supported", laserLabels, nil)
 	if powerUnitdBm {
@@ -205,6 +206,7 @@ func NewCollector(excludeInterfaces []string, includeInterfaces []string, collec
 	return &TransceiverCollector{
 		excludeInterfaces:        excludeInterfaces,
 		includeInterfaces:        includeInterfaces,
+		excludeInterfacesDown:    excludeInterfacesDown,
 		collectInterfaceFeatures: collectInterfaceFeatures,
 		powerUnitdBm:             powerUnitdBm,
 	}
@@ -306,6 +308,9 @@ func (t *TransceiverCollector) getMonitoredInterfaces() ([]string, error) {
 		if iface.Flags&net.FlagLoopback > 0 {
 			continue
 		}
+		if iface.Flags&net.FlagUp == 0 && t.excludeInterfacesDown {
+			continue
+		}
 		if InterfacesExcluded && contains(t.excludeInterfaces, iface.Name) {
 			continue
 		}