diff --git a/collector/lib/CollectionMethod.cpp b/collector/lib/CollectionMethod.cpp
index 211f99b75d..29864ddd6f 100644
--- a/collector/lib/CollectionMethod.cpp
+++ b/collector/lib/CollectionMethod.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #include "CollectionMethod.h"
 
-#include <sstream>
+#include <algorithm>
 
 #include <sys/types.h>
 
@@ -24,4 +24,21 @@ const char* CollectionMethodName(CollectionMethod method) {
   }
 }
 
+CollectionMethod ParseCollectionMethod(std::string_view method) {
+  // Canonicalize collection method to lowercase, replace '-' with '_'
+  std::string cm(method);
+  std::transform(cm.begin(), cm.end(), cm.begin(), ::tolower);
+  std::replace(cm.begin(), cm.end(), '-', '_');
+
+  if (cm == "ebpf") {
+    return CollectionMethod::EBPF;
+  }
+
+  if (cm == "core_bpf") {
+    return CollectionMethod::CORE_BPF;
+  }
+
+  CLOG(WARNING) << "Invalid collection-method (" << cm << "), using CO-RE BPF";
+  return CollectionMethod::CORE_BPF;
+}
 }  // namespace collector
diff --git a/collector/lib/CollectionMethod.h b/collector/lib/CollectionMethod.h
index 1a290a7dc9..75d9f13f3e 100644
--- a/collector/lib/CollectionMethod.h
+++ b/collector/lib/CollectionMethod.h
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #define COLLECTION_METHOD_H
 
 #include <ostream>
+#include <string_view>
 
 namespace collector {
 enum class CollectionMethod : uint8_t {
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@ enum class CollectionMethod : uint8_t {
 std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, CollectionMethod method);
 
 const char* CollectionMethodName(CollectionMethod method);
+CollectionMethod ParseCollectionMethod(std::string_view method);
 
 }  // namespace collector
 
diff --git a/collector/lib/CollectorArgs.cpp b/collector/lib/CollectorArgs.cpp
index b96cdab296..64f97b6daf 100644
--- a/collector/lib/CollectorArgs.cpp
+++ b/collector/lib/CollectorArgs.cpp
@@ -124,13 +124,9 @@ CollectorArgs::checkCollectionMethod(const option::Option& option, bool msg) {
     return ARG_OK;
   }
 
-  // Canonicalize collection method to lowercase, replace '-' with '_'
-  std::string s = option.arg;
-  std::transform(s.begin(), s.end(), s.begin(), ::tolower);
-  std::replace(s.begin(), s.end(), '-', '_');
-  collectionMethod = s;
+  collectionMethod = ParseCollectionMethod(option.arg);
 
-  CLOG(DEBUG) << "CollectionMethod: " << collectionMethod;
+  CLOG(DEBUG) << "CollectionMethod: " << CollectionMethodName(collectionMethod.value());
 
   return ARG_OK;
 }
@@ -174,7 +170,7 @@ CollectorArgs::CollectorConfig() const {
   return collectorConfig;
 }
 
-const std::string&
+std::optional<CollectionMethod>
 CollectorArgs::GetCollectionMethod() const {
   return collectionMethod;
 }
diff --git a/collector/lib/CollectorArgs.h b/collector/lib/CollectorArgs.h
index 425dbd3809..e14990ffb0 100644
--- a/collector/lib/CollectorArgs.h
+++ b/collector/lib/CollectorArgs.h
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 #ifndef _COLLECTOR_ARGS_H_
 #define _COLLECTOR_ARGS_H_
 
+#include <optional>
 #include <string>
 
 #include <json/json.h>
 
+#include "CollectionMethod.h"
 #include "optionparser.h"
 
 namespace collector {
@@ -22,7 +24,7 @@ class CollectorArgs {
   option::ArgStatus checkOptionalNumeric(const option::Option& option, bool msg);
 
   const Json::Value& CollectorConfig() const;
-  const std::string& GetCollectionMethod() const;
+  std::optional<CollectionMethod> GetCollectionMethod() const;
   const std::string& GRPCServer() const;
   const std::string& Message() const;
 
@@ -33,7 +35,7 @@ class CollectorArgs {
   static CollectorArgs* instance;
 
   Json::Value collectorConfig;
-  std::string collectionMethod;
+  std::optional<CollectionMethod> collectionMethod{std::nullopt};
   std::string message;
   std::string grpcServer;
 };
diff --git a/collector/lib/CollectorConfig.cpp b/collector/lib/CollectorConfig.cpp
index a3b70eef5b..4c9fc3f83e 100644
--- a/collector/lib/CollectorConfig.cpp
+++ b/collector/lib/CollectorConfig.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 #include <libsinsp/sinsp.h>
 
+#include "CollectionMethod.h"
 #include "CollectorArgs.h"
 #include "EnvVar.h"
 #include "GRPC.h"
@@ -186,22 +187,15 @@ void CollectorConfig::InitCollectorConfig(CollectorArgs* args) {
     }
 
     // Collection Method
-    auto setCollectionMethod = [&](const std::string& cm) {
-      CLOG(INFO) << "User configured collection-method=" << cm;
-      if (cm == "ebpf") {
-        collection_method_ = CollectionMethod::EBPF;
-      } else if (cm == "core_bpf") {
-        collection_method_ = CollectionMethod::CORE_BPF;
-      } else {
-        CLOG(WARNING) << "Invalid collection-method (" << cm << "), using CO-RE BPF";
-        collection_method_ = CollectionMethod::CORE_BPF;
-      }
+    auto setCollectionMethod = [&](const CollectionMethod cm) {
+      CLOG(INFO) << "User configured collection-method=" << CollectionMethodName(cm);
+      collection_method_ = cm;
     };
 
-    if (args->GetCollectionMethod().length() > 0) {
-      setCollectionMethod(args->GetCollectionMethod());
+    if (args->GetCollectionMethod()) {
+      setCollectionMethod(args->GetCollectionMethod().value());
     } else if (collection_method.hasValue()) {
-      setCollectionMethod(collection_method.value());
+      setCollectionMethod(ParseCollectionMethod(collection_method.value()));
     }
 
     // TLS configuration