diff --git a/awscli/customizations/eks/update_kubeconfig.py b/awscli/customizations/eks/update_kubeconfig.py
index 7a3781344ce7..16cb71f52d21 100644
--- a/awscli/customizations/eks/update_kubeconfig.py
+++ b/awscli/customizations/eks/update_kubeconfig.py
@@ -356,9 +356,9 @@ def get_user_entry(self, user_alias=None):
             ])
 
         if self._session.profile:
-            generated_user["user"]["exec"]["env"] = [OrderedDict([
-                ("name", "AWS_PROFILE"),
-                ("value", self._session.profile)
-            ])]
+            generated_user["user"]["exec"]["args"].extend([
+                "--profile",
+                self._session.profile
+            ])
 
         return generated_user