diff --git a/nodeadm/internal/kubelet/environment.go b/nodeadm/internal/kubelet/environment.go
index d275fc331..7c11b061f 100644
--- a/nodeadm/internal/kubelet/environment.go
+++ b/nodeadm/internal/kubelet/environment.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package kubelet
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/awslabs/amazon-eks-ami/nodeadm/internal/api"
@@ -31,11 +30,7 @@ func (k *kubelet) writeKubeletEnvironment(cfg *api.NodeConfig) error {
 	// write additional environment variables
 	var kubeletEnvironment []string
 	for eKey, eValue := range k.environment {
-		kubeletEnvironment = append(kubeletEnvironment, fmt.Sprintf(`%s=%s`, sanitize(eKey), sanitize(eValue)))
+		kubeletEnvironment = append(kubeletEnvironment, fmt.Sprintf(`%s=%s`, eKey, eValue))
 	}
 	return util.WriteFileWithDir(kubeletEnvironmentFilePath, []byte(strings.Join(kubeletEnvironment, "\n")), kubeletConfigPerm)
 }
-
-func sanitize(s string) string {
-	return regexp.MustCompile("[\n\r]").ReplaceAllString(s, " ")
-}
diff --git a/nodeadm/test/e2e/cases/kubelet-flags/config.yaml b/nodeadm/test/e2e/cases/kubelet-flags/config.yaml
index bdf6441d8..8919683a5 100644
--- a/nodeadm/test/e2e/cases/kubelet-flags/config.yaml
+++ b/nodeadm/test/e2e/cases/kubelet-flags/config.yaml
@@ -14,6 +14,3 @@ spec:
       - --v=5
       - --node-labels=foo=bar,foo2=baz
       - --register-with-taints=foo=bar:NoSchedule
-      - |
-        --foo
-        --bar
diff --git a/nodeadm/test/e2e/cases/kubelet-flags/run.sh b/nodeadm/test/e2e/cases/kubelet-flags/run.sh
index 5abd450a2..6de36c942 100755
--- a/nodeadm/test/e2e/cases/kubelet-flags/run.sh
+++ b/nodeadm/test/e2e/cases/kubelet-flags/run.sh
@@ -12,5 +12,5 @@ wait::dbus-ready
 
 nodeadm init --skip run --config-source file://config.yaml
 
-assert::file-contains /etc/eks/kubelet/environment '--v=5 --node-labels=foo=bar,foo2=baz --register-with-taints=foo=bar:NoSchedule --foo --bar $'
+assert::file-contains /etc/eks/kubelet/environment '--v=5 --node-labels=foo=bar,foo2=baz --register-with-taints=foo=bar:NoSchedule$'
 assert::file-contains /etc/eks/kubelet/environment '--hostname-override=i-1234567890abcdef0'