diff --git a/controllers/nginx/pkg/cmd/controller/nginx.go b/controllers/nginx/pkg/cmd/controller/nginx.go
index 133bc9a55..63419a1e6 100644
--- a/controllers/nginx/pkg/cmd/controller/nginx.go
+++ b/controllers/nginx/pkg/cmd/controller/nginx.go
@@ -48,11 +48,11 @@ import (
 type statusModule string
 
 const (
-	ngxHealthPort = 18080
 	ngxHealthPath = "/healthz"
 
 	defaultStatusModule statusModule = "default"
 	vtsStatusModule     statusModule = "vts"
+	defaultServerPort                = "default-server-port"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -317,6 +317,7 @@ func (n NGINXController) Info() *ingress.BackendInfo {
 // ConfigureFlags allow to configure more flags before the parsing of
 // command line arguments
 func (n *NGINXController) ConfigureFlags(flags *pflag.FlagSet) {
+	flags.Int(defaultServerPort, 18080, `Port used to expose the default server in NGINX.`)
 }
 
 // OverrideFlags customize NGINX controller flags
@@ -334,6 +335,9 @@ func (n *NGINXController) OverrideFlags(flags *pflag.FlagSet) {
 
 	flags.Set("ingress-class", ic)
 	n.stats = newStatsCollector(wc, ic, n.binary)
+
+	dlp, _ := flags.GetInt(defaultServerPort)
+	n.DefaultServerPort = dlp
 }
 
 // DefaultIngressClass just return the default ingress class
@@ -568,7 +572,7 @@ func (n NGINXController) Name() string {
 
 // Check returns if the nginx healthz endpoint is returning ok (status code 200)
 func (n NGINXController) Check(_ *http.Request) error {
-	res, err := http.Get(fmt.Sprintf("http://localhost:%v%v", ngxHealthPort, ngxHealthPath))
+	res, err := http.Get(fmt.Sprintf("http://localhost:%v%v", n.DefaultServerPort, ngxHealthPath))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/core/pkg/ingress/controller/controller.go b/core/pkg/ingress/controller/controller.go
index aad79c34c..c558647f2 100644
--- a/core/pkg/ingress/controller/controller.go
+++ b/core/pkg/ingress/controller/controller.go
@@ -63,11 +63,6 @@ const (
 	rootLocation             = "/"
 )
 
-var (
-	// list of ports that cannot be used by TCP or UDP services
-	reservedPorts = []string{"80", "443", "8181", "18080"}
-)
-
 // GenericController holds the boilerplate code required to build an Ingress controlller.
 type GenericController struct {
 	cfg *Configuration
@@ -110,6 +105,14 @@ type GenericController struct {
 	stopCh chan struct{}
 }
 
+// ListenPort contains all the ports used in the ingress controller.
+type ListenPort struct {
+	HTTP           int
+	HTTPS          int
+	DefaultBackend int
+	Health         int
+}
+
 // Configuration contains all the settings required by an Ingress controller
 type Configuration struct {
 	Client clientset.Interface
@@ -137,6 +140,9 @@ type Configuration struct {
 
 	UpdateStatus bool
 	ElectionID   string
+
+	// Ports contains the configuration of the used ports in the controller
+	Ports *ListenPort
 }
 
 // newIngressController creates an Ingress controller
@@ -449,6 +455,13 @@ func (ic *GenericController) getStreamServices(configmapName string, proto api.P
 		return []ingress.L4Service{}
 	}
 
+	usedPorts := []string{
+		strconv.Itoa(ic.cfg.Ports.DefaultBackend),
+		strconv.Itoa(ic.cfg.Ports.HTTP),
+		strconv.Itoa(ic.cfg.Ports.HTTPS),
+		strconv.Itoa(ic.cfg.Ports.Health),
+	}
+
 	var svcs []ingress.L4Service
 	// k -> port to expose
 	// v -> <namespace>/<service name>:<port from service to be used>
@@ -459,8 +472,8 @@ func (ic *GenericController) getStreamServices(configmapName string, proto api.P
 			continue
 		}
 
-		// this ports used by the backend
-		if local_strings.StringInSlice(k, reservedPorts) {
+		// this ports used are already used by the controller
+		if local_strings.StringInSlice(k, usedPorts) {
 			glog.Warningf("port %v cannot be used for TCP or UDP services. It is reserved for the Ingress controller", k)
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/core/pkg/ingress/controller/launch.go b/core/pkg/ingress/controller/launch.go
index 9bb162488..76961b819 100644
--- a/core/pkg/ingress/controller/launch.go
+++ b/core/pkg/ingress/controller/launch.go
@@ -73,6 +73,12 @@ func NewIngressController(backend ingress.Controller) *GenericController {
 
 		healthzPort = flags.Int("healthz-port", 10254, "port for healthz endpoint.")
 
+		httpPort = flags.Int("http-port", 80, "port used to expose HTTP protocol")
+
+		httpsPort = flags.Int("https-port", 443, "port used to expose HTTPS protocol")
+
+		localDefaultBackendPort = flags.Int("local-default-backend-port", 8181, "port used to expose the default backend service")
+
 		profiling = flags.Bool("profiling", true, `Enable profiling via web interface host:port/debug/pprof/`)
 
 		defSSLCertificate = flags.String("default-ssl-certificate", "", `Name of the secret 
@@ -164,6 +170,12 @@ func NewIngressController(backend ingress.Controller) *GenericController {
 		PublishService:          *publishSvc,
 		Backend:                 backend,
 		ForceNamespaceIsolation: *forceIsolation,
+		Ports: &ListenPort{
+			HTTP:           *httpPort,
+			HTTPS:          *httpsPort,
+			DefaultBackend: *localDefaultBackendPort,
+			Health:         *healthzPort,
+		},
 	}
 
 	ic := newIngressController(config)
diff --git a/core/pkg/ingress/controller/util.go b/core/pkg/ingress/controller/util.go
index 4feb882ba..add25d517 100644
--- a/core/pkg/ingress/controller/util.go
+++ b/core/pkg/ingress/controller/util.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package controller
 
 import (
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"unicode/utf8"
 
@@ -30,8 +31,11 @@ import (
 const DeniedKeyName = "Denied"
 
 // newDefaultServer return an BackendServer to be use as default server that returns 503.
-func newDefaultServer() ingress.Endpoint {
-	return ingress.Endpoint{Address: "127.0.0.1", Port: "8181"}
+func (ic *GenericController) newDefaultServer() ingress.Endpoint {
+	return ingress.Endpoint{
+		Address: "127.0.0.1",
+		Port:    strconv.Itoa(ic.cfg.Ports.DefaultBackend),
+	}
 }
 
 // newUpstream creates an upstream without servers.