diff --git a/prometheus/collectors/go_collector_latest_test.go b/prometheus/collectors/go_collector_latest_test.go
index c48289b4b..11331ed87 100644
--- a/prometheus/collectors/go_collector_latest_test.go
+++ b/prometheus/collectors/go_collector_latest_test.go
@@ -38,6 +38,31 @@ var baseMetrics = []string{
 	"go_threads",
 }
 
+var memstatMetrics = []string{
+	"go_memstats_alloc_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_alloc_bytes_total",
+	"go_memstats_buck_hash_sys_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_frees_total",
+	"go_memstats_gc_sys_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_heap_alloc_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_heap_idle_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_heap_inuse_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_heap_objects",
+	"go_memstats_heap_released_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_heap_sys_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_lookups_total",
+	"go_memstats_mallocs_total",
+	"go_memstats_mcache_inuse_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_mcache_sys_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_mspan_inuse_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_mspan_sys_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_next_gc_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_other_sys_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_stack_inuse_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_stack_sys_bytes",
+	"go_memstats_sys_bytes",
+}
+
 func TestGoCollectorMarshalling(t *testing.T) {
 	reg := prometheus.NewRegistry()
 	reg.MustRegister(NewGoCollector(
@@ -55,6 +80,24 @@ func TestGoCollectorMarshalling(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestWithGoCollectorDefault(t *testing.T) {
+	reg := prometheus.NewRegistry()
+	reg.MustRegister(NewGoCollector())
+	result, err := reg.Gather()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	got := []string{}
+	for _, r := range result {
+		got = append(got, r.GetName())
+	}
+
+	if diff := cmp.Diff(got, withBaseMetrics(memstatMetrics)); diff != "" {
+		t.Errorf("[IMPORTANT, those are default metrics, can't change in 1.x] missmatch (-want +got):\n%s", diff)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestWithGoCollectorMemStatsMetricsDisabled(t *testing.T) {
 	reg := prometheus.NewRegistry()
 	reg.MustRegister(NewGoCollector(
@@ -192,7 +235,7 @@ func TestGoCollectorDenyList(t *testing.T) {
 func ExampleGoCollector() {
 	reg := prometheus.NewRegistry()
 
-	// Register the GoCollector with the default options. Only the base metrics will be enabled.
+	// Register the GoCollector with the default options. Only the base metrics and memstats are enabled.
 	reg.MustRegister(NewGoCollector())
 
 	http.Handle("/metrics", promhttp.HandlerFor(reg, promhttp.HandlerOpts{}))
diff --git a/prometheus/go_collector.go b/prometheus/go_collector.go
index ad9a71a5e..f29708b16 100644
--- a/prometheus/go_collector.go
+++ b/prometheus/go_collector.go
@@ -22,13 +22,13 @@ import (
 // goRuntimeMemStats provides the metrics initially provided by runtime.ReadMemStats.
 // From Go 1.17 those similar (and better) statistics are provided by runtime/metrics, so
 // while eval closure works on runtime.MemStats, the struct from Go 1.17+ is
-// populated using runtime/metrics.
+// populated using runtime/metrics. Those are the defaults we can't alter.
 func goRuntimeMemStats() memStatsMetrics {
 	return memStatsMetrics{
 		{
 			desc: NewDesc(
 				memstatNamespace("alloc_bytes"),
-				"Number of bytes allocated and still in use.",
+				"Number of bytes allocated and currently in use.",
 				nil, nil,
 			),
 			eval:    func(ms *runtime.MemStats) float64 { return float64(ms.Alloc) },
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func goRuntimeMemStats() memStatsMetrics {
 		}, {
 			desc: NewDesc(
 				memstatNamespace("alloc_bytes_total"),
-				"Total number of bytes allocated, even if freed.",
+				"Total number of bytes allocated until now, even if released already.",
 				nil, nil,
 			),
 			eval:    func(ms *runtime.MemStats) float64 { return float64(ms.TotalAlloc) },
@@ -60,7 +60,8 @@ func goRuntimeMemStats() memStatsMetrics {
 		}, {
 			desc: NewDesc(
 				memstatNamespace("mallocs_total"),
-				"Total number of mallocs.",
+				// TODO(bwplotka): We could add go_memstats_heap_objects, probably useful for discovery. Let's gather more feedback, kind of waste of bytes for everybody for compatibility reason.
+				"Total number of heap objects allocated, both live and gc-ed. Semantically a counter version for go_memstats_heap_objects gauge.",
 				nil, nil,
 			),
 			eval:    func(ms *runtime.MemStats) float64 { return float64(ms.Mallocs) },
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ func goRuntimeMemStats() memStatsMetrics {
 		}, {
 			desc: NewDesc(
 				memstatNamespace("frees_total"),
-				"Total number of frees.",
+				"Total number of heap objects frees.",
 				nil, nil,
 			),
 			eval:    func(ms *runtime.MemStats) float64 { return float64(ms.Frees) },
@@ -76,7 +77,7 @@ func goRuntimeMemStats() memStatsMetrics {
 		}, {
 			desc: NewDesc(
 				memstatNamespace("heap_alloc_bytes"),
-				"Number of heap bytes allocated and still in use.",
+				"Number of heap bytes allocated and currently in use.",
 				nil, nil,
 			),
 			eval:    func(ms *runtime.MemStats) float64 { return float64(ms.HeapAlloc) },
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@ func goRuntimeMemStats() memStatsMetrics {
 		}, {
 			desc: NewDesc(
 				memstatNamespace("heap_objects"),
-				"Number of allocated objects.",
+				"Number of currently allocated objects.",
 				nil, nil,
 			),
 			eval:    func(ms *runtime.MemStats) float64 { return float64(ms.HeapObjects) },
@@ -225,7 +226,7 @@ func newBaseGoCollector() baseGoCollector {
 			nil, nil),
 		gcDesc: NewDesc(
 			"go_gc_duration_seconds",
-			"A summary of the pause duration of garbage collection cycles.",
+			"A summary of the wall-time pause (stop-the-world) duration in garbage collection cycles.",
 			nil, nil),
 		gcLastTimeDesc: NewDesc(
 			"go_memstats_last_gc_time_seconds",