diff --git a/nodeadm/internal/kubelet/config.go b/nodeadm/internal/kubelet/config.go
index 6fce79f28..978a2b24b 100644
--- a/nodeadm/internal/kubelet/config.go
+++ b/nodeadm/internal/kubelet/config.go
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ func (k *kubelet) writeKubeletConfigToDir(cfg *api.NodeConfig) error {
 		k.flags["config-dir"] = dirPath
 
 		zap.L().Info("Enabling kubelet config drop-in dir..")
-		k.setEnv("KUBELET_CONFIG_DROPIN_DIR_ALPHA", "on")
+		k.environment["KUBELET_CONFIG_DROPIN_DIR_ALPHA"] = "on"
 		filePath := path.Join(dirPath, "00-nodeadm.conf")
 
 		// merge in default type metadata like kind and apiVersion in case the
diff --git a/nodeadm/internal/kubelet/environment.go b/nodeadm/internal/kubelet/environment.go
index 6abf8a9cd..244b3420b 100644
--- a/nodeadm/internal/kubelet/environment.go
+++ b/nodeadm/internal/kubelet/environment.go
@@ -30,12 +30,11 @@ 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"`, eKey, eValue))
+		kubeletEnvironment = append(kubeletEnvironment, fmt.Sprintf(`%s=%s`, sanitize(eKey), sanitize(eValue)))
 	}
 	return util.WriteFileWithDir(kubeletEnvironmentFilePath, []byte(strings.Join(kubeletEnvironment, "\n")), kubeletConfigPerm)
 }
 
-// Add values to the environment variables map in a terse manner
-func (k *kubelet) setEnv(envName string, envArg string) {
-	k.environment[envName] = envArg
+func sanitize(s string) string {
+	return strings.ReplaceAll(s, "\n", " ")
 }
diff --git a/nodeadm/test/e2e/cases/kubelet-flags/config.yaml b/nodeadm/test/e2e/cases/kubelet-flags/config.yaml
index 8919683a5..bdf6441d8 100644
--- a/nodeadm/test/e2e/cases/kubelet-flags/config.yaml
+++ b/nodeadm/test/e2e/cases/kubelet-flags/config.yaml
@@ -14,3 +14,6 @@ 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 4235fc719..5abd450a2 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"$'
+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 '--hostname-override=i-1234567890abcdef0'