diff --git a/roles/matrix-prometheus/defaults/main.yml b/roles/matrix-prometheus/defaults/main.yml
index cb1e6c014..28395bd9d 100644
--- a/roles/matrix-prometheus/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/matrix-prometheus/defaults/main.yml
@@ -26,6 +26,19 @@ matrix_prometheus_systemd_wanted_services_list: []
 # Takes an "<ip>:<port>" or "<port>" value (e.g. "127.0.0.1:9090"), or empty string to not expose.
 matrix_prometheus_container_http_host_bind_port: ''
 
+# A list of default arguments to pass to the prometheus process
+matrix_prometheus_process_default_arguments:
+  - "--config.file=/etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml"
+  - "--storage.tsdb.path=/prometheus"
+  - "--web.console.libraries=/usr/share/prometheus/console_libraries"
+  - "--web.console.templates=/usr/share/prometheus/consoles"
+
+# A list of extra arguments to pass to the prometheus process
+matrix_prometheus_process_extra_arguments: []
+
+# holds the final list of process arguments
+matrix_prometheus_process_arguments: "{{ matrix_prometheus_process_default_arguments + matrix_prometheus_process_extra_arguments }}"
+
 # Tells whether the "synapse" scraper configuration is enabled.
 matrix_prometheus_scraper_synapse_enabled: false
 
diff --git a/roles/matrix-prometheus/templates/systemd/matrix-prometheus.service.j2 b/roles/matrix-prometheus/templates/systemd/matrix-prometheus.service.j2
index 8de57201c..56e13c134 100644
--- a/roles/matrix-prometheus/templates/systemd/matrix-prometheus.service.j2
+++ b/roles/matrix-prometheus/templates/systemd/matrix-prometheus.service.j2
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ ExecStart={{ matrix_host_command_docker }} run --rm --name matrix-prometheus \
 			{% for arg in matrix_prometheus_container_extra_arguments %}
 			{{ arg }} \
 			{% endfor %}
-			{{ matrix_prometheus_docker_image }}
+			{{ matrix_prometheus_docker_image }} {{ matrix_prometheus_process_arguments|join(' ') }}
 
 ExecStop=-{{ matrix_host_command_sh }} -c '{{ matrix_host_command_docker }} kill matrix-prometheus 2>/dev/null || true'
 ExecStop=-{{ matrix_host_command_sh }} -c '{{ matrix_host_command_docker }} rm matrix-prometheus 2>/dev/null || true'