diff --git a/cloud/ec2 b/cloud/ec2
index ef0a558aeda..f8e9d791bb8 100644
--- a/cloud/ec2
+++ b/cloud/ec2
@@ -1143,7 +1143,7 @@ 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),
         )
     )