diff --git a/docs/pages/enroll-resources/kubernetes-access/controls.mdx b/docs/pages/enroll-resources/kubernetes-access/controls.mdx
index 44989dca2b5e4..b1b006fc5519c 100644
--- a/docs/pages/enroll-resources/kubernetes-access/controls.mdx
+++ b/docs/pages/enroll-resources/kubernetes-access/controls.mdx
@@ -319,8 +319,8 @@ determines this from the `kubernetes_users` and `kubernetes_groups` fields in a
 user's roles.
 
 If a user has exactly one value in `kubernetes_users`, the Teleport Kubernetes
-Service impersonates that user. If there are no values in `kubernetes_users`,
-the Kubernetes Service uses the user's Teleport username.
+Service impersonates that user. If there are no values or a wildcard (`*`) in
+`kubernetes_users`, the Kubernetes Service uses the user's Teleport username.
 
 The Kubernetes Service will deny a request if a user has multiple
 `kubernetes_users` and has not specified one when authenticating to a cluster
@@ -329,6 +329,16 @@ The Kubernetes Service will deny a request if a user has multiple
 If the user has not specified a Kubernetes group to impersonate, the Kubernetes
 Service uses all values within `kubernetes_groups`.
 
+<Admonition type="warning">
+    When impersonating a less privileged user, remember that unless you're
+    also manually impersonating specific groups (e.g. using `--as-groups` flag),
+    the Kubernetes Service will automatically impersonate any groups within
+    `kubernetes_groups`.
+
+    This can be confusing because you will have the combined permissions of both
+    the user and any automatically-impersonated groups.
+</Admonition>
+
 With the `kube-access` role above, after you authenticate to Teleport, the
 Kubernetes Service uses impersonation headers to forward requests to the API
 server with the `developers` group and the `myuser` Kubernetes user.
diff --git a/lib/kube/proxy/ephemeral_containers.go b/lib/kube/proxy/ephemeral_containers.go
index baccb97026342..9de25cb83f811 100644
--- a/lib/kube/proxy/ephemeral_containers.go
+++ b/lib/kube/proxy/ephemeral_containers.go
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ func (f *Forwarder) impersonatedKubeClient(authCtx *authContext, headers http.He
 		return nil, nil, trace.NotFound("kubernetes cluster %q not found", authCtx.kubeClusterName)
 	}
 	restConfig := details.getKubeRestConfig()
-	kubeUser, kubeGroups, err := computeImpersonatedPrincipals(authCtx.kubeUsers, authCtx.kubeGroups, headers)
+	kubeUser, kubeGroups, err := computeImpersonatedPrincipals(authCtx.kubeUsers, authCtx.kubeGroups, authCtx.User.GetName(), headers)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, trace.Wrap(err)
 	}
diff --git a/lib/kube/proxy/forwarder.go b/lib/kube/proxy/forwarder.go
index d22806b0a88fd..bc3559579d887 100644
--- a/lib/kube/proxy/forwarder.go
+++ b/lib/kube/proxy/forwarder.go
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ func (c *authContext) key() string {
 func (c *authContext) eventClusterMeta(req *http.Request) apievents.KubernetesClusterMetadata {
 	var kubeUsers, kubeGroups []string
 
-	if impersonateUser, impersonateGroups, err := computeImpersonatedPrincipals(c.kubeUsers, c.kubeGroups, req.Header); err == nil {
+	if impersonateUser, impersonateGroups, err := computeImpersonatedPrincipals(c.kubeUsers, c.kubeGroups, c.User.GetName(), req.Header); err == nil {
 		kubeUsers = []string{impersonateUser}
 		kubeGroups = impersonateGroups
 	} else {
@@ -1968,7 +1968,7 @@ func setupImpersonationHeaders(sess *clusterSession, headers http.Header) error
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	impersonateUser, impersonateGroups, err := computeImpersonatedPrincipals(sess.kubeUsers, sess.kubeGroups, headers)
+	impersonateUser, impersonateGroups, err := computeImpersonatedPrincipals(sess.kubeUsers, sess.kubeGroups, sess.User.GetName(), headers)
 	if err != nil {
 		return trace.Wrap(err)
 	}
@@ -2007,7 +2007,9 @@ func copyImpersonationHeaders(dst, src http.Header) {
 // received in the `Impersonate-User` and `Impersonate-Groups` headers and the
 // allowed values. If the user didn't specify any user and groups to impersonate,
 // Teleport will use every group the user is allowed to impersonate.
-func computeImpersonatedPrincipals(kubeUsers, kubeGroups map[string]struct{}, headers http.Header) (string, []string, error) {
+func computeImpersonatedPrincipals(kubeUsers, kubeGroups map[string]struct{}, username string, headers http.Header) (string, []string, error) {
+	_, hasUserWildcard := kubeUsers[types.Wildcard]
+
 	var impersonateUser string
 	var impersonateGroups []string
 	for header, values := range headers {
@@ -2032,7 +2034,7 @@ func computeImpersonatedPrincipals(kubeUsers, kubeGroups map[string]struct{}, he
 			}
 			impersonateUser = values[0]
 
-			if _, ok := kubeUsers[impersonateUser]; !ok {
+			if _, ok := kubeUsers[impersonateUser]; !ok && !hasUserWildcard {
 				return "", nil, trace.AccessDenied("%v, user header %q is not allowed in roles", ImpersonationRequestDeniedMessage, impersonateUser)
 			}
 		case ImpersonateGroupHeader:
@@ -2066,20 +2068,24 @@ func computeImpersonatedPrincipals(kubeUsers, kubeGroups map[string]struct{}, he
 	// link the user identity with the IAM role, for example `IAM#{{external.email}}`
 	//
 	if impersonateUser == "" {
-		switch len(kubeUsers) {
-		// this is currently not possible as kube users have at least one
-		// user (user name), but in case if someone breaks it, catch here
-		case 0:
-			return "", nil, trace.AccessDenied("assumed at least one user to be present")
-		// if there is deterministic choice, make it to improve user experience
-		case 1:
-			for user := range kubeUsers {
-				impersonateUser = user
-				break
+		if hasUserWildcard {
+			impersonateUser = username
+		} else {
+			switch len(kubeUsers) {
+			// this is currently not possible as kube users have at least one
+			// user (user name), but in case if someone breaks it, catch here
+			case 0:
+				return "", nil, trace.AccessDenied("assumed at least one user to be present")
+			// if there is deterministic choice, make it to improve user experience
+			case 1:
+				for user := range kubeUsers {
+					impersonateUser = user
+					break
+				}
+			default:
+				return "", nil, trace.AccessDenied(
+					"please select a user to impersonate, refusing to select a user due to several kubernetes_users set up for this user")
 			}
-		default:
-			return "", nil, trace.AccessDenied(
-				"please select a user to impersonate, refusing to select a user due to several kubernetes_users set up for this user")
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/kube/proxy/forwarder_test.go b/lib/kube/proxy/forwarder_test.go
index 3d14ed4d4742a..ed331ff3c28dd 100644
--- a/lib/kube/proxy/forwarder_test.go
+++ b/lib/kube/proxy/forwarder_test.go
@@ -787,6 +787,7 @@ func TestSetupImpersonationHeaders(t *testing.T) {
 		desc          string
 		kubeUsers     []string
 		kubeGroups    []string
+		username      string
 		remoteCluster bool
 		isProxy       bool
 		inHeaders     http.Header
@@ -931,6 +932,33 @@ func TestSetupImpersonationHeaders(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			errAssertion: require.NoError,
 		},
+		{
+			desc:       "kubernetes_users wildcard, no impersonation headers",
+			username:   "ted-lasso",
+			kubeUsers:  []string{types.Wildcard},
+			kubeGroups: []string{"kube-group-a"},
+			inHeaders:  http.Header{},
+			wantHeaders: http.Header{
+				ImpersonateUserHeader:  []string{"ted-lasso"},
+				ImpersonateGroupHeader: []string{"kube-group-a"},
+			},
+			errAssertion: require.NoError,
+		},
+		{
+			desc:       "kubernetes_users wildcard, impersonation headers given",
+			username:   "ted-lasso",
+			kubeUsers:  []string{types.Wildcard},
+			kubeGroups: []string{"kube-group-a"},
+			inHeaders: http.Header{
+				ImpersonateUserHeader:  []string{"kube-user-a"},
+				ImpersonateGroupHeader: []string{"kube-group-a"},
+			},
+			wantHeaders: http.Header{
+				ImpersonateUserHeader:  []string{"kube-user-a"},
+				ImpersonateGroupHeader: []string{"kube-group-a"},
+			},
+			errAssertion: require.NoError,
+		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.desc, func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -942,6 +970,11 @@ func TestSetupImpersonationHeaders(t *testing.T) {
 				&clusterSession{
 					kubeAPICreds: kubeCreds,
 					authContext: authContext{
+						Context: authz.Context{
+							User: &types.UserV2{
+								Metadata: types.Metadata{Name: tt.username},
+							},
+						},
 						kubeUsers:       set.New(tt.kubeUsers...),
 						kubeGroups:      set.New(tt.kubeGroups...),
 						teleportCluster: teleportClusterClient{isRemote: tt.remoteCluster},
@@ -1519,6 +1552,11 @@ func Test_authContext_eventClusterMeta(t *testing.T) {
 	kubeClusterLabels := map[string]string{
 		"label": "value",
 	}
+	baseAuthCtx := authz.Context{
+		User: &types.UserV2{
+			Metadata: types.Metadata{Name: "ted-lasso"},
+		},
+	}
 	type args struct {
 		req *http.Request
 		ctx *authContext
@@ -1535,6 +1573,7 @@ func Test_authContext_eventClusterMeta(t *testing.T) {
 					Header: http.Header{},
 				},
 				ctx: &authContext{
+					Context:           baseAuthCtx,
 					kubeClusterName:   "clusterName",
 					kubeClusterLabels: kubeClusterLabels,
 					kubeGroups:        map[string]struct{}{"kube-group-a": {}, "kube-group-b": {}},
@@ -1558,6 +1597,7 @@ func Test_authContext_eventClusterMeta(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 				},
 				ctx: &authContext{
+					Context:           baseAuthCtx,
 					kubeClusterName:   "clusterName",
 					kubeClusterLabels: kubeClusterLabels,
 					kubeGroups:        map[string]struct{}{"kube-group-a": {}, "kube-group-b": {}, "kube-group-c": {}},
@@ -1578,6 +1618,7 @@ func Test_authContext_eventClusterMeta(t *testing.T) {
 					Header: http.Header{},
 				},
 				ctx: &authContext{
+					Context:           baseAuthCtx,
 					kubeClusterName:   "clusterName",
 					kubeClusterLabels: kubeClusterLabels,
 					kubeGroups:        map[string]struct{}{"kube-group-a": {}, "kube-group-b": {}, "kube-group-c": {}},
diff --git a/lib/kube/proxy/resource_deletecollection.go b/lib/kube/proxy/resource_deletecollection.go
index a30ecadb8ec60..c50cbd5d5b370 100644
--- a/lib/kube/proxy/resource_deletecollection.go
+++ b/lib/kube/proxy/resource_deletecollection.go
@@ -358,6 +358,7 @@ func deleteResources[T kubeObjectInterface](
 
 		impersonatedUsers, impersonatedGroups, err := computeImpersonatedPrincipals(
 			set.New(allowedKubeUsers...), set.New(allowedKubeGroups...),
+			params.authCtx.User.GetName(),
 			params.header,
 		)
 		if err != nil {