diff --git a/.chloggen/drosiek-syslog-defaults.yaml b/.chloggen/drosiek-syslog-defaults.yaml
index 0aeedbe4d321..14c88929a4bc 100755
--- a/.chloggen/drosiek-syslog-defaults.yaml
+++ b/.chloggen/drosiek-syslog-defaults.yaml
@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@ change_type: bug_fix
 component: syslogexporter
 
 # A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
-note: fix default behaviour (disable tls and use proper defaults)
+note: use proper defaults according to RFCs
 
 # Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
-issues: [21245]
+issues: [25114]
 
 # (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
 # These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
diff --git a/exporter/syslogexporter/config.go b/exporter/syslogexporter/config.go
index a81e70bd9242..ea3fbbc75ffd 100644
--- a/exporter/syslogexporter/config.go
+++ b/exporter/syslogexporter/config.go
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	Protocol string `mapstructure:"protocol"`
 
 	// TLSSetting struct exposes TLS client configuration.
-	TLSSetting *configtls.TLSClientSetting `mapstructure:"tls"`
+	TLSSetting configtls.TLSClientSetting `mapstructure:"tls"`
 
 	exporterhelper.QueueSettings   `mapstructure:"sending_queue"`
 	exporterhelper.RetrySettings   `mapstructure:"retry_on_failure"`
diff --git a/exporter/syslogexporter/exporter.go b/exporter/syslogexporter/exporter.go
index 8b6279320433..7d897137f544 100644
--- a/exporter/syslogexporter/exporter.go
+++ b/exporter/syslogexporter/exporter.go
@@ -26,14 +26,9 @@ type syslogexporter struct {
 }
 
 func initExporter(cfg *Config, createSettings exporter.CreateSettings) (*syslogexporter, error) {
-	var tlsConfig *tls.Config
-	var err error
-
-	if cfg.TLSSetting != nil {
-		tlsConfig, err = cfg.TLSSetting.LoadTLSConfig()
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
+	tlsConfig, err := cfg.TLSSetting.LoadTLSConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	cfg.Network = strings.ToLower(cfg.Network)
diff --git a/exporter/syslogexporter/exporter_test.go b/exporter/syslogexporter/exporter_test.go
index c878e35f831e..58cdb03a61aa 100644
--- a/exporter/syslogexporter/exporter_test.go
+++ b/exporter/syslogexporter/exporter_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component"
-	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configtls"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/consumer/consumererror"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/exporter"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pcommon"
@@ -135,9 +134,7 @@ func prepareExporterTest(t *testing.T, cfg *Config, invalidExporter bool) *expor
 func createTestConfig() *Config {
 	config := createDefaultConfig().(*Config)
 	config.Network = "tcp"
-	config.TLSSetting = &configtls.TLSClientSetting{
-		Insecure: true,
-	}
+	config.TLSSetting.Insecure = true
 	return config
 }