diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 839632b..e714cd8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ efs-csi-controller    0         5m
 | Name | Description | Type | Default | Required |
 |------|-------------|------|---------|:--------:|
 | <a name="input_access_entries"></a> [access\_entries](#input\_access\_entries) | Map of access entries to add to the cluster | `any` | `{}` | no |
-| <a name="input_ami_type"></a> [ami\_type](#input\_ami\_type) | AMI type to use for the EKS node group | `string` | `"AL2023_x86_64"` | no |
+| <a name="input_ami_type"></a> [ami\_type](#input\_ami\_type) | AMI type to use for the EKS node group | `string` | `""` | no |
 | <a name="input_census_private_cidr"></a> [census\_private\_cidr](#input\_census\_private\_cidr) | Census Private CIR Blocks | `list(string)` | <pre>[<br/>  "148.129.0.0/16",<br/>  "172.16.0.0/12",<br/>  "192.168.0.0/16",<br/>  "10.0.0.0/16"<br/>]</pre> | no |
 | <a name="input_cloudwatch_retention_days"></a> [cloudwatch\_retention\_days](#input\_cloudwatch\_retention\_days) | number of days to retain logs in cloudwatch | `string` | `"14"` | no |
 | <a name="input_cluster_name"></a> [cluster\_name](#input\_cluster\_name) | EKS cluster name name component used through out the EKS cluster describing its purpose (ex: dice-dev) | `string` | n/a | yes |
diff --git a/variables.tf b/variables.tf
index acd43d4..bb30de3 100644
--- a/variables.tf
+++ b/variables.tf
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 variable "ami_type" {
   description = "AMI type to use for the EKS node group"
   type        = string
-  default     = "AL2023_x86_64"
+  default     = ""
 }
 
 variable "cluster_name" {