diff --git a/pkg/labels/matcher.go b/pkg/labels/matcher.go
index 308ed9d4..445c9056 100644
--- a/pkg/labels/matcher.go
+++ b/pkg/labels/matcher.go
@@ -110,7 +110,10 @@ func (m Matcher) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 }
 
 func (m *Matcher) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
-	var v1m apiV1Matcher
+	v1m := apiV1Matcher{
+		IsEqual: true,
+	}
+
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &v1m); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/labels/matcher_test.go b/pkg/labels/matcher_test.go
index a645f9d6..bd89a2b7 100644
--- a/pkg/labels/matcher_test.go
+++ b/pkg/labels/matcher_test.go
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ line`,
 	}
 }
 
-func TestMatcherJSON(t *testing.T) {
+func TestMatcherJSONMarshal(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		name  string
 		op    MatchType
@@ -255,3 +255,63 @@ func TestMatcherJSON(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestMatcherJSONUnmarshal(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name  string
+		op    MatchType
+		value string
+		want  string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:  "foo",
+			op:    MatchEqual,
+			value: "bar",
+			want:  `{"name":"foo","value":"bar","isRegex":false}`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:  `foo`,
+			op:    MatchEqual,
+			value: `bar`,
+			want:  `{"name":"foo","value":"bar","isRegex":false,"isEqual":true}`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:  `foo`,
+			op:    MatchNotEqual,
+			value: `bar`,
+			want:  `{"name":"foo","value":"bar","isRegex":false,"isEqual":false}`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:  `foo`,
+			op:    MatchRegexp,
+			value: `bar`,
+			want:  `{"name":"foo","value":"bar","isRegex":true,"isEqual":true}`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:  `foo`,
+			op:    MatchNotRegexp,
+			value: `bar`,
+			want:  `{"name":"foo","value":"bar","isRegex":true,"isEqual":false}`,
+		},
+	}
+
+	cmp := func(m1, m2 Matcher) bool {
+		return m1.Name == m2.Name && m1.Value == m2.Value && m1.Type == m2.Type
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		var m Matcher
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(test.want), &m); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		m2, err := NewMatcher(test.op, test.name, test.value)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		if !cmp(m, *m2) {
+			t.Errorf("Unmarshaling seems to be producing unexpected matchers; got %#v, expected %#v", m, m2)
+		}
+	}
+}