diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 70f100d..79500e8 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -58,27 +58,31 @@ const (
 	other  label = "other"
 )
 
-func main() {
-	config := struct {
-		KubeConfig             string
-		Namespace              string
-		StatefulSetLabel       string
-		ClusterDomain          string
-		ConfigMapName          string
-		ConfigMapGeneratedName string
-		FileName               string
-		Port                   int
-		Scheme                 string
-		InternalAddr           string
-		AllowOnlyReadyReplicas bool
-		AllowDynamicScaling    bool
-		AnnotatePodsOnChange   bool
-		ScaleTimeout           time.Duration
-	}{}
+type CmdConfig struct {
+	KubeConfig             string
+	Namespace              string
+	StatefulSetLabel       string
+	Label                  string
+	ClusterDomain          string
+	ConfigMapName          string
+	ConfigMapGeneratedName string
+	FileName               string
+	Port                   int
+	Scheme                 string
+	InternalAddr           string
+	AllowOnlyReadyReplicas bool
+	AllowDynamicScaling    bool
+	AnnotatePodsOnChange   bool
+	ScaleTimeout           time.Duration
+}
+
+func parseFlags() CmdConfig {
+	var config CmdConfig
 
 	flag.StringVar(&config.KubeConfig, "kubeconfig", "", "Path to kubeconfig")
 	flag.StringVar(&config.Namespace, "namespace", "default", "The namespace to watch")
-	flag.StringVar(&config.StatefulSetLabel, "statefulset-label", "controller.receive.thanos.io=thanos-receive-controller", "The label StatefulSets must have to be watched by the controller")
+	flag.StringVar(&config.StatefulSetLabel, "statefulset-label", "", "[DEPRECATED] The label StatefulSets must have to be watched by the controller")
+	flag.StringVar(&config.Label, "label", "controller.receive.thanos.io=thanos-receive-controller", "The label workloads must have to be watched by the controller.")
 	flag.StringVar(&config.ClusterDomain, "cluster-domain", "cluster.local", "The DNS domain of the cluster")
 	flag.StringVar(&config.ConfigMapName, "configmap-name", "", "The name of the original ConfigMap containing the hashring tenant configuration")
 	flag.StringVar(&config.ConfigMapGeneratedName, "configmap-generated-name", "", "The name of the generated and populated ConfigMap")
@@ -88,15 +92,30 @@ func main() {
 	flag.StringVar(&config.InternalAddr, "internal-addr", ":8080", "The address on which internal server runs")
 	flag.BoolVar(&config.AllowOnlyReadyReplicas, "allow-only-ready-replicas", false, "Populate only Ready receiver replicas in the hashring configuration")
 	flag.BoolVar(&config.AllowDynamicScaling, "allow-dynamic-scaling", false, "Update the hashring configuration on scale down events.")
-	flag.BoolVar(&config.AnnotatePodsOnChange, "annotate-pods-on-change", false, "Annotates pods with latest configuration hash on a hashring change")
+	flag.BoolVar(&config.AnnotatePodsOnChange, "annotate-pods-on-change", false, "Annotates pods with current timestamp on a hashring change")
 	flag.DurationVar(&config.ScaleTimeout, "scale-timeout", defaultScaleTimeout, "A timeout to wait for receivers to really start after they report healthy")
 	flag.Parse()
 
+	return config
+}
+
+func main() {
 	logger := log.NewLogfmtLogger(log.NewSyncWriter(os.Stderr))
 	logger = log.WithPrefix(logger, "ts", log.DefaultTimestampUTC)
 	logger = log.WithPrefix(logger, "caller", log.DefaultCaller)
 
-	labelKey, labelValue := splitLabel(config.StatefulSetLabel)
+	config := parseFlags()
+
+	var tmpControllerLabel string
+	if len(config.StatefulSetLabel) > 0 {
+		tmpControllerLabel = config.StatefulSetLabel
+
+		level.Warn(logger).Log("msg", "The --statefulset-label flag is deprecated. Please see the manual page for updates.")
+	} else {
+		tmpControllerLabel = config.Label
+	}
+
+	labelKey, labelValue := splitLabel(tmpControllerLabel)
 
 	konfig, err := clientcmd.BuildConfigFromFlags("", config.KubeConfig)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -267,7 +286,7 @@ const labelParts = 2
 func splitLabel(in string) (key, value string) {
 	parts := strings.Split(in, "=")
 	if len(parts) != labelParts {
-		stdlog.Fatal("--statefulset-label must be of the form 'key=value'")
+		stdlog.Fatal("Labels consist of a key-value pair f.ex: 'key=value'")
 	}
 
 	return parts[0], parts[1]
@@ -578,7 +597,7 @@ func (c *controller) sync(ctx context.Context) {
 	// opposed to having to wait kubelet sync period + cache (see
 	// https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/configure-pod-container/configure-pod-configmap/#mounted-configmaps-are-updated-automatically)
 	if err == nil && c.options.annotatePodsOnChange {
-		c.annotatePods(ctx, hashrings, statefulsets)
+		c.annotatePods(ctx)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -721,30 +740,34 @@ func (c *controller) saveHashring(ctx context.Context, hashring []receive.Hashri
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *controller) annotatePods(ctx context.Context, hashrings []receive.HashringConfig, statefulsets map[string]*appsv1.StatefulSet) {
-	for _, h := range hashrings {
-		if sts, exists := statefulsets[h.Hashring]; exists {
-			for i := 0; i < int(*sts.Spec.Replicas); i++ {
-				podName := fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", sts.Name, i)
+func (c *controller) annotatePods(ctx context.Context) {
+	annotationKey := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", c.options.labelKey, "lastControllerUpdate")
+	updateTime := fmt.Sprintf("%d", time.Now().Unix())
 
-				pod, err := c.klient.CoreV1().Pods(c.options.namespace).Get(ctx, podName, metav1.GetOptions{})
-				if err != nil {
-					level.Error(c.logger).Log("msg", "failed to get pod", "err", err)
-				}
+	// Select pods that have a controllerLabel matching ours.
+	podList, err := c.klient.CoreV1().Pods(c.options.namespace).List(ctx,
+		metav1.ListOptions{
+			LabelSelector: fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", c.options.labelKey, c.options.labelValue),
+		})
+	if err != nil {
+		level.Error(c.logger).Log("msg", "failed to list pods belonging to controller", "err", err)
+		return
+	}
 
-				annotations := pod.Annotations
-				if annotations == nil {
-					annotations = make(map[string]string)
-				}
+	for _, pod := range podList.Items {
+		podObj := pod.DeepCopy()
 
-				annotations["annotationTimestamp"] = fmt.Sprintf("%d", time.Now().Unix())
-				pod.SetAnnotations(annotations)
+		annotations := podObj.ObjectMeta.Annotations
+		if annotations == nil {
+			annotations = make(map[string]string)
+		}
 
-				_, err = c.klient.CoreV1().Pods(c.options.namespace).Update(ctx, pod, metav1.UpdateOptions{})
-				if err != nil {
-					level.Error(c.logger).Log("msg", "failed to update pod", "err", err)
-				}
-			}
+		annotations[annotationKey] = updateTime
+		podObj.SetAnnotations(annotations)
+
+		_, err := c.klient.CoreV1().Pods(pod.Namespace).Update(ctx, podObj, metav1.UpdateOptions{})
+		if err != nil {
+			level.Error(c.logger).Log("msg", "failed to update pod", "err", err)
 		}
 	}
 }