diff --git a/ci-operator/templates/cluster-launch-installer-e2e-smoke.yaml b/ci-operator/templates/cluster-launch-installer-e2e-smoke.yaml
index 527bd7bffa874..9c693872d4aa6 100644
--- a/ci-operator/templates/cluster-launch-installer-e2e-smoke.yaml
+++ b/ci-operator/templates/cluster-launch-installer-e2e-smoke.yaml
@@ -189,7 +189,6 @@ objects:
           export EMAIL=test@ci.openshift.io
           export PASSWORD=$( date +%s | sha256sum | base64 | head -c 32 ; echo )
           export SSH_KEY="$( cat /etc/openshift-installer/ssh-publickey )"
-          export EC2_AMI_OVERRIDE=ami-07307c397daf4d02e
           export EXPIRATION_DATE=$( date -d '4 hours' --iso=minutes --utc )
           envsubst </etc/openshift-installer/openshift.yaml >/tmp/cluster/inputs.yaml
         )
diff --git a/ci-operator/templates/cluster-launch-installer-e2e.yaml b/ci-operator/templates/cluster-launch-installer-e2e.yaml
index b137e771f6c16..6e33953bd4a1c 100644
--- a/ci-operator/templates/cluster-launch-installer-e2e.yaml
+++ b/ci-operator/templates/cluster-launch-installer-e2e.yaml
@@ -193,7 +193,6 @@ objects:
           export EMAIL=test@ci.openshift.io
           export PASSWORD=$( date +%s | sha256sum | base64 | head -c 32 ; echo )
           export SSH_KEY="$( cat /etc/openshift-installer/ssh-publickey )"
-          export EC2_AMI_OVERRIDE=ami-07307c397daf4d02e
           export EXPIRATION_DATE=$( date -d '4 hours' --iso=minutes --utc )
           envsubst </etc/openshift-installer/openshift.yaml >/tmp/cluster/inputs.yaml
         )
diff --git a/cluster/test-deploy/aws/openshift.yaml b/cluster/test-deploy/aws/openshift.yaml
index bcf345972324d..04a3017b621c0 100644
--- a/cluster/test-deploy/aws/openshift.yaml
+++ b/cluster/test-deploy/aws/openshift.yaml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ aws:
   # assetsS3BucketName:
 
   # (optional) AMI override for all nodes. Example: `ami-foobar123`.
-  ec2AMIOverride: "${EC2_AMI_OVERRIDE}"
+  ${EC2_AMI_OVERRIDE}
 
   external:
     # (optional) List of subnet IDs within an existing VPC to deploy master nodes into.