diff --git a/cmd/promtool/main.go b/cmd/promtool/main.go
index a2f710d14..a72183f70 100644
--- a/cmd/promtool/main.go
+++ b/cmd/promtool/main.go
@@ -631,9 +631,9 @@ func checkRules(filename string, lintSettings lintConfig) (int, []error) {
 			errMessage := fmt.Sprintf("%d duplicate rule(s) found.\n", len(dRules))
 			for _, n := range dRules {
 				errMessage += fmt.Sprintf("Metric: %s\nLabel(s):\n", n.metric)
-				for _, l := range n.label {
+				n.label.Range(func(l labels.Label) {
 					errMessage += fmt.Sprintf("\t%s: %s\n", l.Name, l.Value)
-				}
+				})
 			}
 			errMessage += "Might cause inconsistency while recording expressions"
 			return 0, []error{fmt.Errorf("%w %s", lintError, errMessage)}
diff --git a/cmd/promtool/rules.go b/cmd/promtool/rules.go
index 4dbef34eb..2b5ed1d78 100644
--- a/cmd/promtool/rules.go
+++ b/cmd/promtool/rules.go
@@ -158,14 +158,15 @@ func (importer *ruleImporter) importRule(ctx context.Context, ruleExpr, ruleName
 
 				// Setting the rule labels after the output of the query,
 				// so they can override query output.
-				for _, l := range ruleLabels {
+				ruleLabels.Range(func(l labels.Label) {
 					lb.Set(l.Name, l.Value)
-				}
+				})
 
 				lb.Set(labels.MetricName, ruleName)
+				lbls := lb.Labels(labels.EmptyLabels())
 
 				for _, value := range sample.Values {
-					if err := app.add(ctx, lb.Labels(nil), timestamp.FromTime(value.Timestamp.Time()), float64(value.Value)); err != nil {
+					if err := app.add(ctx, lbls, timestamp.FromTime(value.Timestamp.Time()), float64(value.Value)); err != nil {
 						return fmt.Errorf("add: %w", err)
 					}
 				}
diff --git a/cmd/promtool/tsdb.go b/cmd/promtool/tsdb.go
index 1c6ae6f6b..80b1dc42f 100644
--- a/cmd/promtool/tsdb.go
+++ b/cmd/promtool/tsdb.go
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ func readPrometheusLabels(r io.Reader, n int) ([]labels.Labels, error) {
 	i := 0
 
 	for scanner.Scan() && i < n {
-		m := make(labels.Labels, 0, 10)
+		m := make([]labels.Label, 0, 10)
 
 		r := strings.NewReplacer("\"", "", "{", "", "}", "")
 		s := r.Replace(scanner.Text())
@@ -325,13 +325,12 @@ func readPrometheusLabels(r io.Reader, n int) ([]labels.Labels, error) {
 			split := strings.Split(labelChunk, ":")
 			m = append(m, labels.Label{Name: split[0], Value: split[1]})
 		}
-		// Order of the k/v labels matters, don't assume we'll always receive them already sorted.
-		sort.Sort(m)
-		h := m.Hash()
+		ml := labels.New(m...) // This sorts by name - order of the k/v labels matters, don't assume we'll always receive them already sorted.
+		h := ml.Hash()
 		if _, ok := hashes[h]; ok {
 			continue
 		}
-		mets = append(mets, m)
+		mets = append(mets, ml)
 		hashes[h] = struct{}{}
 		i++
 	}
@@ -479,13 +478,13 @@ func analyzeBlock(path, blockID string, limit int, runExtended bool) error {
 		}
 		// Amount of the block time range not covered by this series.
 		uncovered := uint64(meta.MaxTime-meta.MinTime) - uint64(chks[len(chks)-1].MaxTime-chks[0].MinTime)
-		for _, lbl := range lbls {
+		lbls.Range(func(lbl labels.Label) {
 			key := lbl.Name + "=" + lbl.Value
 			labelsUncovered[lbl.Name] += uncovered
 			labelpairsUncovered[key] += uncovered
 			labelpairsCount[key]++
 			entries++
-		}
+		})
 	}
 	if p.Err() != nil {
 		return p.Err()
diff --git a/cmd/promtool/unittest.go b/cmd/promtool/unittest.go
index f6b16a6bb..cc40ac9d0 100644
--- a/cmd/promtool/unittest.go
+++ b/cmd/promtool/unittest.go
@@ -284,8 +284,8 @@ func (tg *testGroup) test(evalInterval time.Duration, groupOrderMap map[string]i
 					for _, a := range ar.ActiveAlerts() {
 						if a.State == rules.StateFiring {
 							alerts = append(alerts, labelAndAnnotation{
-								Labels:      append(labels.Labels{}, a.Labels...),
-								Annotations: append(labels.Labels{}, a.Annotations...),
+								Labels:      a.Labels.Copy(),
+								Annotations: a.Annotations.Copy(),
 							})
 						}
 					}