diff --git a/plugins/inputs/socket_listener/socket_listener.go b/plugins/inputs/socket_listener/socket_listener.go
index 603db83f0..382326343 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/socket_listener/socket_listener.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/socket_listener/socket_listener.go
@@ -388,14 +388,6 @@ func (sl *SocketListener) Stop() {
 	sl.wg.Wait()
 }
 
-func newSocketListener() *SocketListener {
-	parser, _ := parsers.NewInfluxParser()
-
-	return &SocketListener{
-		Parser: parser,
-	}
-}
-
 type unixCloser struct {
 	path   string
 	closer io.Closer
@@ -410,5 +402,5 @@ func (uc unixCloser) Close() error {
 }
 
 func init() {
-	inputs.Add("socket_listener", func() telegraf.Input { return newSocketListener() })
+	inputs.Add("socket_listener", func() telegraf.Input { return &SocketListener{} })
 }
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/socket_listener/socket_listener_test.go b/plugins/inputs/socket_listener/socket_listener_test.go
index 91062c626..72c87e3ed 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/socket_listener/socket_listener_test.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/socket_listener/socket_listener_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/config"
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/internal"
+	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/parsers"
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/testutil"
 	"github.com/influxdata/wlog"
 )
@@ -48,13 +49,16 @@ func TestSocketListener_tcp_tls(t *testing.T) {
 	testEmptyLog := prepareLog(t)
 	defer testEmptyLog()
 
-	sl := newSocketListener()
+	sl := &SocketListener{}
+	parser, err := parsers.NewInfluxParser()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	sl.SetParser(parser)
 	sl.Log = testutil.Logger{}
 	sl.ServiceAddress = "tcp://127.0.0.1:0"
 	sl.ServerConfig = *pki.TLSServerConfig()
 
 	acc := &testutil.Accumulator{}
-	err := sl.Start(acc)
+	err = sl.Start(acc)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	defer sl.Stop()
 
@@ -70,13 +74,16 @@ func TestSocketListener_tcp_tls(t *testing.T) {
 func TestSocketListener_unix_tls(t *testing.T) {
 	sock := testutil.TempSocket(t)
 
-	sl := newSocketListener()
+	sl := &SocketListener{}
+	parser, err := parsers.NewInfluxParser()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	sl.SetParser(parser)
 	sl.Log = testutil.Logger{}
 	sl.ServiceAddress = "unix://" + sock
 	sl.ServerConfig = *pki.TLSServerConfig()
 
 	acc := &testutil.Accumulator{}
-	err := sl.Start(acc)
+	err = sl.Start(acc)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	defer sl.Stop()
 
@@ -94,13 +101,16 @@ func TestSocketListener_tcp(t *testing.T) {
 	testEmptyLog := prepareLog(t)
 	defer testEmptyLog()
 
-	sl := newSocketListener()
+	sl := &SocketListener{}
+	parser, err := parsers.NewInfluxParser()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	sl.SetParser(parser)
 	sl.Log = testutil.Logger{}
 	sl.ServiceAddress = "tcp://127.0.0.1:0"
 	sl.ReadBufferSize = config.Size(1024)
 
 	acc := &testutil.Accumulator{}
-	err := sl.Start(acc)
+	err = sl.Start(acc)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	defer sl.Stop()
 
@@ -114,13 +124,16 @@ func TestSocketListener_udp(t *testing.T) {
 	testEmptyLog := prepareLog(t)
 	defer testEmptyLog()
 
-	sl := newSocketListener()
+	sl := &SocketListener{}
+	parser, err := parsers.NewInfluxParser()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	sl.SetParser(parser)
 	sl.Log = testutil.Logger{}
 	sl.ServiceAddress = "udp://127.0.0.1:0"
 	sl.ReadBufferSize = config.Size(1024)
 
 	acc := &testutil.Accumulator{}
-	err := sl.Start(acc)
+	err = sl.Start(acc)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	defer sl.Stop()
 
@@ -138,13 +151,16 @@ func TestSocketListener_unix(t *testing.T) {
 
 	f, _ := os.Create(sock)
 	require.NoError(t, f.Close())
-	sl := newSocketListener()
+	sl := &SocketListener{}
+	parser, err := parsers.NewInfluxParser()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	sl.SetParser(parser)
 	sl.Log = testutil.Logger{}
 	sl.ServiceAddress = "unix://" + sock
 	sl.ReadBufferSize = config.Size(1024)
 
 	acc := &testutil.Accumulator{}
-	err := sl.Start(acc)
+	err = sl.Start(acc)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	defer sl.Stop()
 
@@ -168,7 +184,10 @@ func TestSocketListener_unixgram(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	t.Cleanup(func() { require.NoError(t, f.Close()) })
 
-	sl := newSocketListener()
+	sl := &SocketListener{}
+	parser, err := parsers.NewInfluxParser()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	sl.SetParser(parser)
 	sl.Log = testutil.Logger{}
 	sl.ServiceAddress = "unixgram://" + sock
 	sl.ReadBufferSize = config.Size(1024)
@@ -188,14 +207,17 @@ func TestSocketListenerDecode_tcp(t *testing.T) {
 	testEmptyLog := prepareLog(t)
 	defer testEmptyLog()
 
-	sl := newSocketListener()
+	sl := &SocketListener{}
+	parser, err := parsers.NewInfluxParser()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	sl.SetParser(parser)
 	sl.Log = testutil.Logger{}
 	sl.ServiceAddress = "tcp://127.0.0.1:0"
 	sl.ReadBufferSize = config.Size(1024)
 	sl.ContentEncoding = "gzip"
 
 	acc := &testutil.Accumulator{}
-	err := sl.Start(acc)
+	err = sl.Start(acc)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	defer sl.Stop()
 
@@ -209,14 +231,17 @@ func TestSocketListenerDecode_udp(t *testing.T) {
 	testEmptyLog := prepareLog(t)
 	defer testEmptyLog()
 
-	sl := newSocketListener()
+	sl := &SocketListener{}
+	parser, err := parsers.NewInfluxParser()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	sl.SetParser(parser)
 	sl.Log = testutil.Logger{}
 	sl.ServiceAddress = "udp://127.0.0.1:0"
 	sl.ReadBufferSize = config.Size(1024)
 	sl.ContentEncoding = "gzip"
 
 	acc := &testutil.Accumulator{}
-	err := sl.Start(acc)
+	err = sl.Start(acc)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	defer sl.Stop()