diff --git a/cloud/ec2 b/cloud/ec2
index 88a62b9829a..3dc94f41f6c 100644
--- a/cloud/ec2
+++ b/cloud/ec2
@@ -1155,7 +1155,7 @@ def main():
             exact_count = dict(type='int', default=None),
             count_tag = dict(),
             volumes = dict(type='list'),
-            ebs_optimized = dict(),
+            ebs_optimized = dict(type='bool', default=False),
         )
     )