diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/controller.go b/internal/ingress/controller/controller.go
index 31f905b95..da7420c8b 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/controller.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/controller.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mitchellh/hashstructure"
 	apiv1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	networking "k8s.io/api/networking/v1beta1"
+	apiequality "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/intstr"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
@@ -219,6 +220,8 @@ func (n *NGINXController) CheckIngress(ing *networking.Ingress) error {
 			toCheck.ObjectMeta.Name == ing.ObjectMeta.Name
 	}
 
+	k8s.SetDefaultPathTypeIfEmpty(ing)
+
 	ings := n.store.ListIngresses(filter)
 	ings = append(ings, &ingress.Ingress{
 		Ingress:           *ing,
@@ -529,7 +532,7 @@ func (n *NGINXController) getBackendServers(ingresses []*ingress.Ingress) ([]*in
 					if loc.Path == nginxPath {
 						// Same paths but different types are allowed
 						// (same type means overlap in the path definition)
-						if *loc.PathType != *path.PathType {
+						if !apiequality.Semantic.DeepEqual(loc.PathType, path.PathType) {
 							break
 						}
 
diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/store/store.go b/internal/ingress/controller/store/store.go
index 976cbbd8d..74dc619cd 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/store/store.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/store/store.go
@@ -963,28 +963,14 @@ func toIngress(obj interface{}) (*networkingv1beta1.Ingress, bool) {
 			return nil, false
 		}
 
-		setDefaultPathTypeIfEmpty(ing)
+		k8s.SetDefaultPathTypeIfEmpty(ing)
 		return ing, true
 	}
 
 	if ing, ok := obj.(*networkingv1beta1.Ingress); ok {
-		setDefaultPathTypeIfEmpty(ing)
+		k8s.SetDefaultPathTypeIfEmpty(ing)
 		return ing, true
 	}
 
 	return nil, false
 }
-
-func setDefaultPathTypeIfEmpty(ing *networkingv1beta1.Ingress) {
-	for _, rule := range ing.Spec.Rules {
-		if rule.IngressRuleValue.HTTP == nil {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		for _, path := range rule.IngressRuleValue.HTTP.Paths {
-			if path.PathType == nil {
-				path.PathType = &defaultPathType
-			}
-		}
-	}
-}
diff --git a/internal/k8s/main.go b/internal/k8s/main.go
index c1b8d9c83..612a60dc2 100644
--- a/internal/k8s/main.go
+++ b/internal/k8s/main.go
@@ -149,3 +149,22 @@ func NetworkingIngressAvailable(client clientset.Interface) (bool, bool) {
 
 	return runningVersion.AtLeast(version114), runningVersion.AtLeast(version118)
 }
+
+// Default path type is Prefix to not break existing definitions
+var defaultPathType = networkingv1beta1.PathTypePrefix
+
+// SetDefaultPathTypeIfEmpty sets a default PathType when is not defined.
+func SetDefaultPathTypeIfEmpty(ing *networkingv1beta1.Ingress) {
+	for _, rule := range ing.Spec.Rules {
+		if rule.IngressRuleValue.HTTP == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		for idx := range rule.IngressRuleValue.HTTP.Paths {
+			p := &rule.IngressRuleValue.HTTP.Paths[idx]
+			if p.PathType == nil {
+				p.PathType = &defaultPathType
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}