diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 556f05ff7..61b407e63 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -1762,7 +1762,6 @@ func (c *Config) missingTomlField(_ reflect.Type, key string) error {
 	// Parser options to ignore
 	case "data_type", "separator", "tag_keys",
 		// "templates", // shared with serializers
-		"collectd_auth_file", "collectd_parse_multivalue", "collectd_security_level", "collectd_typesdb",
 		"dropwizard_metric_registry_path", "dropwizard_tags_path", "dropwizard_tag_paths",
 		"dropwizard_time_format", "dropwizard_time_path",
 		"form_urlencoded_tag_keys",
diff --git a/plugins/parsers/all/all.go b/plugins/parsers/all/all.go
index 24f433128..5807c717f 100644
--- a/plugins/parsers/all/all.go
+++ b/plugins/parsers/all/all.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package all
 
 import (
 	//Blank imports for plugins to register themselves
+	_ "github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/parsers/collectd"
 	_ "github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/parsers/csv"
 	_ "github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/parsers/json"
 	_ "github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/parsers/json_v2"
diff --git a/plugins/parsers/collectd/parser.go b/plugins/parsers/collectd/parser.go
index 3bd99257c..e7194fd25 100644
--- a/plugins/parsers/collectd/parser.go
+++ b/plugins/parsers/collectd/parser.go
@@ -10,70 +10,62 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf"
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/metric"
+	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/parsers"
 )
 
 const (
 	DefaultAuthFile = "/etc/collectd/auth_file"
 )
 
-type CollectdParser struct {
-	// DefaultTags will be added to every parsed metric
-	DefaultTags map[string]string
+type Parser struct {
+	DefaultTags map[string]string `toml:"-"`
 
 	//whether or not to split multi value metric into multiple metrics
 	//default value is split
-	ParseMultiValue string
-	Log             telegraf.Logger `toml:"-"`
-	popts           network.ParseOpts
+	ParseMultiValue string `toml:"collectd_parse_multivalue"`
+
+	popts         network.ParseOpts
+	AuthFile      string   `toml:"collectd_auth_file"`
+	SecurityLevel string   `toml:"collectd_security_level"`
+	TypesDB       []string `toml:"collectd_typesdb"`
+
+	Log telegraf.Logger `toml:"-"`
 }
 
-func (p *CollectdParser) SetParseOpts(popts *network.ParseOpts) {
-	p.popts = *popts
-}
-
-func NewCollectdParser(
-	authFile string,
-	securityLevel string,
-	typesDB []string,
-	split string,
-) (*CollectdParser, error) {
-	popts := network.ParseOpts{}
-
-	switch securityLevel {
+func (p *Parser) Init() error {
+	switch p.SecurityLevel {
 	case "none":
-		popts.SecurityLevel = network.None
+		p.popts.SecurityLevel = network.None
 	case "sign":
-		popts.SecurityLevel = network.Sign
+		p.popts.SecurityLevel = network.Sign
 	case "encrypt":
-		popts.SecurityLevel = network.Encrypt
+		p.popts.SecurityLevel = network.Encrypt
 	default:
-		popts.SecurityLevel = network.None
+		p.popts.SecurityLevel = network.None
 	}
 
-	if authFile == "" {
-		authFile = DefaultAuthFile
+	if p.AuthFile == "" {
+		p.AuthFile = DefaultAuthFile
 	}
-	popts.PasswordLookup = network.NewAuthFile(authFile)
+	p.popts.PasswordLookup = network.NewAuthFile(p.AuthFile)
 
-	for _, path := range typesDB {
+	for _, path := range p.TypesDB {
 		db, err := LoadTypesDB(path)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
+			return err
 		}
 
-		if popts.TypesDB != nil {
-			popts.TypesDB.Merge(db)
+		if p.popts.TypesDB != nil {
+			p.popts.TypesDB.Merge(db)
 		} else {
-			popts.TypesDB = db
+			p.popts.TypesDB = db
 		}
 	}
 
-	parser := CollectdParser{popts: popts,
-		ParseMultiValue: split}
-	return &parser, nil
+	return nil
 }
 
-func (p *CollectdParser) Parse(buf []byte) ([]telegraf.Metric, error) {
+func (p *Parser) Parse(buf []byte) ([]telegraf.Metric, error) {
 	valueLists, err := network.Parse(buf, p.popts)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("collectd parser error: %s", err)
@@ -98,7 +90,7 @@ func (p *CollectdParser) Parse(buf []byte) ([]telegraf.Metric, error) {
 	return metrics, nil
 }
 
-func (p *CollectdParser) ParseLine(line string) (telegraf.Metric, error) {
+func (p *Parser) ParseLine(line string) (telegraf.Metric, error) {
 	metrics, err := p.Parse([]byte(line))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -111,12 +103,12 @@ func (p *CollectdParser) ParseLine(line string) (telegraf.Metric, error) {
 	return metrics[0], nil
 }
 
-func (p *CollectdParser) SetDefaultTags(tags map[string]string) {
+func (p *Parser) SetDefaultTags(tags map[string]string) {
 	p.DefaultTags = tags
 }
 
 // unmarshalValueList translates a ValueList into a Telegraf metric.
-func (p *CollectdParser) unmarshalValueList(vl *api.ValueList) []telegraf.Metric {
+func (p *Parser) unmarshalValueList(vl *api.ValueList) []telegraf.Metric {
 	timestamp := vl.Time.UTC()
 
 	var metrics []telegraf.Metric
@@ -205,3 +197,21 @@ func LoadTypesDB(path string) (*api.TypesDB, error) {
 	}
 	return api.NewTypesDB(reader)
 }
+
+func init() {
+	parsers.Add("collectd",
+		func(_ string) telegraf.Parser {
+			return &Parser{
+				AuthFile: DefaultAuthFile,
+			}
+		})
+}
+
+func (p *Parser) InitFromConfig(config *parsers.Config) error {
+	p.AuthFile = config.CollectdAuthFile
+	p.SecurityLevel = config.CollectdSecurityLevel
+	p.TypesDB = config.CollectdTypesDB
+	p.ParseMultiValue = config.CollectdSplit
+
+	return p.Init()
+}
diff --git a/plugins/parsers/collectd/parser_test.go b/plugins/parsers/collectd/parser_test.go
index 4893fbbe5..68af7d985 100644
--- a/plugins/parsers/collectd/parser_test.go
+++ b/plugins/parsers/collectd/parser_test.go
@@ -108,8 +108,10 @@ var multiMetric = testCase{
 }
 
 func TestNewCollectdParser(t *testing.T) {
-	parser, err := NewCollectdParser("", "", []string{}, "join")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	parser := Parser{
+		ParseMultiValue: "join",
+	}
+	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
 	require.Equal(t, parser.popts.SecurityLevel, network.None)
 	require.NotNil(t, parser.popts.PasswordLookup)
 	require.Nil(t, parser.popts.TypesDB)
@@ -124,8 +126,8 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 		bytes, err := buf.Bytes()
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		parser := &CollectdParser{}
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+		parser := &Parser{}
+		require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
 		metrics, err := parser.Parse(bytes)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
@@ -139,20 +141,36 @@ func TestParseMultiValueSplit(t *testing.T) {
 	bytes, err := buf.Bytes()
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	parser := &CollectdParser{ParseMultiValue: "split"}
+	parser := &Parser{ParseMultiValue: "split"}
+	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
 	metrics, err := parser.Parse(bytes)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	require.Equal(t, 2, len(metrics))
 }
 
+func TestParseMultiValueJoin(t *testing.T) {
+	buf, err := writeValueList(multiMetric.vl)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	bytes, err := buf.Bytes()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	parser := &Parser{ParseMultiValue: "join"}
+	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
+	metrics, err := parser.Parse(bytes)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.Equal(t, 1, len(metrics))
+}
+
 func TestParse_DefaultTags(t *testing.T) {
 	buf, err := writeValueList(singleMetric.vl)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	bytes, err := buf.Bytes()
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	parser := &CollectdParser{}
+	parser := &Parser{}
+	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
 	parser.SetDefaultTags(map[string]string{
 		"foo": "bar",
 	})
@@ -164,16 +182,11 @@ func TestParse_DefaultTags(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestParse_SignSecurityLevel(t *testing.T) {
-	parser := &CollectdParser{}
-	popts := &network.ParseOpts{
-		SecurityLevel: network.Sign,
-		PasswordLookup: &AuthMap{
-			map[string]string{
-				"user0": "bar",
-			},
-		},
+	parser := &Parser{
+		SecurityLevel: "sign",
+		AuthFile:      "testdata/authfile",
 	}
-	parser.SetParseOpts(popts)
+	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
 
 	// Signed data
 	buf, err := writeValueList(singleMetric.vl)
@@ -219,16 +232,11 @@ func TestParse_SignSecurityLevel(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestParse_EncryptSecurityLevel(t *testing.T) {
-	parser := &CollectdParser{}
-	popts := &network.ParseOpts{
-		SecurityLevel: network.Encrypt,
-		PasswordLookup: &AuthMap{
-			map[string]string{
-				"user0": "bar",
-			},
-		},
+	parser := &Parser{
+		SecurityLevel: "encrypt",
+		AuthFile:      "testdata/authfile",
 	}
-	parser.SetParseOpts(popts)
+	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
 
 	// Signed data skipped
 	buf, err := writeValueList(singleMetric.vl)
@@ -278,9 +286,10 @@ func TestParseLine(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	bytes, err := buf.Bytes()
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	parser, err := NewCollectdParser("", "", []string{}, "split")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	parser := Parser{
+		ParseMultiValue: "split",
+	}
+	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
 	metric, err := parser.ParseLine(string(bytes))
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
diff --git a/plugins/parsers/collectd/testdata/authfile b/plugins/parsers/collectd/testdata/authfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cce7b0a17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/parsers/collectd/testdata/authfile
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+user0: bar
diff --git a/plugins/parsers/registry.go b/plugins/parsers/registry.go
index 79276282a..510eba2ce 100644
--- a/plugins/parsers/registry.go
+++ b/plugins/parsers/registry.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf"
-	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/parsers/collectd"
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/parsers/dropwizard"
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/parsers/form_urlencoded"
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/parsers/graphite"
@@ -218,9 +217,6 @@ func NewParser(config *Config) (Parser, error) {
 	case "graphite":
 		parser, err = NewGraphiteParser(config.Separator,
 			config.Templates, config.DefaultTags)
-	case "collectd":
-		parser, err = NewCollectdParser(config.CollectdAuthFile,
-			config.CollectdSecurityLevel, config.CollectdTypesDB, config.CollectdSplit)
 	case "dropwizard":
 		parser, err = NewDropwizardParser(
 			config.DropwizardMetricRegistryPath,
@@ -321,15 +317,6 @@ func NewValueParser(
 	return value.NewValueParser(metricName, dataType, fieldName, defaultTags), nil
 }
 
-func NewCollectdParser(
-	authFile string,
-	securityLevel string,
-	typesDB []string,
-	split string,
-) (Parser, error) {
-	return collectd.NewCollectdParser(authFile, securityLevel, typesDB, split)
-}
-
 func NewDropwizardParser(
 	metricRegistryPath string,
 	timePath string,