diff --git a/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/expected.yaml b/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/expected.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9eafc8f9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/expected.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: StatefulSet
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    notIn: arrays
+  name: persisted-test
+spec:
+  replicas: 1
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: test
+      notIn: arrays
+  serviceName: test
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: test
+        notIn: arrays
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - image: nginx
+        name: nginx
+  volumeClaimTemplates:
+  - metadata:
+      labels:
+        notIn: arrays
+      name: www
+    spec:
+      accessModes:
+      - ReadWriteOnce
+      resources:
+        requests:
+          storage: 1Gi
+      storageClassName: my-storage-class
+---
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: StatefulSet
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    notIn: arrays
+  name: test
+spec:
+  replicas: 1
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: test
+      notIn: arrays
+  serviceName: test
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: test
+        notIn: arrays
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - image: nginx
+        name: nginx
diff --git a/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/in/kustomization.yaml b/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/in/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..593d2618a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/in/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+commonLabels:
+  notIn: arrays
+
+resources:
+- statefulset.yaml
+- statefulset-with-template.yaml
diff --git a/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/in/statefulset-with-template.yaml b/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/in/statefulset-with-template.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2e4eba617
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/in/statefulset-with-template.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+kind: StatefulSet
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+metadata:
+  name: persisted-test
+  labels:
+    notIn: arrays
+spec:
+  serviceName: "test"
+  replicas: 1
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: test
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: test
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - name: nginx
+        image: nginx
+  volumeClaimTemplates:
+  - metadata:
+      name: www
+    spec:
+      accessModes: [ "ReadWriteOnce" ]
+      storageClassName: my-storage-class
+      resources:
+        requests:
+          storage: 1Gi
diff --git a/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/in/statefulset.yaml b/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/in/statefulset.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c81a03c26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/in/statefulset.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+kind: StatefulSet
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+metadata:
+  name: test
+  labels:
+    notIn: arrays
+spec:
+  serviceName: "test"
+  replicas: 1
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: test
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: test
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - name: nginx
+        image: nginx
diff --git a/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/test.yaml b/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/test.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6fa743457
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/commands/build/testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/test.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+description: arrays are not autocreated by transformers
+args: []
+filename: testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/in
+expectedStdout: testdata/testcase-transformer-no-create-arrays/expected.yaml
diff --git a/pkg/transformers/config/defaultconfig/commonlabels.go b/pkg/transformers/config/defaultconfig/commonlabels.go
index 7efd6a54d..875f602fa 100644
--- a/pkg/transformers/config/defaultconfig/commonlabels.go
+++ b/pkg/transformers/config/defaultconfig/commonlabels.go
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ commonLabels:
   group: apps
   kind: StatefulSet
 
-- path: spec/volumeClaimTemplates/metadata/labels
+- path: spec/volumeClaimTemplates[]/metadata/labels
   create: true
   group: apps
   kind: StatefulSet
diff --git a/pkg/transformers/mutatefield.go b/pkg/transformers/mutatefield.go
index eddfeee20..71d688e1e 100644
--- a/pkg/transformers/mutatefield.go
+++ b/pkg/transformers/mutatefield.go
@@ -33,18 +33,20 @@ func mutateField(
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	_, found := m[pathToField[0]]
+	firstPathSegment, isArray := getFirstPathSegment(pathToField)
+
+	_, found := m[firstPathSegment]
 	if !found {
-		if !createIfNotPresent {
+		if !createIfNotPresent || isArray {
 			return nil
 		}
-		m[pathToField[0]] = map[string]interface{}{}
+		m[firstPathSegment] = map[string]interface{}{}
 	}
 
 	if len(pathToField) == 1 {
 		var err error
 		for _, fn := range fns {
-			m[pathToField[0]], err = fn(m[pathToField[0]])
+			m[firstPathSegment], err = fn(m[firstPathSegment])
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
@@ -52,7 +54,7 @@ func mutateField(
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	v := m[pathToField[0]]
+	v := m[firstPathSegment]
 	newPathToField := pathToField[1:]
 	switch typedV := v.(type) {
 	case nil:
@@ -79,3 +81,10 @@ func mutateField(
 		return fmt.Errorf("%#v is not expected to be a primitive type", typedV)
 	}
 }
+
+func getFirstPathSegment(pathToField []string) (string, bool) {
+	if strings.HasSuffix(pathToField[0], "[]") {
+		return pathToField[0][:len(pathToField[0])-2], true
+	}
+	return pathToField[0], false
+}