diff --git a/pkg/configfilearg/defaultparser_test.go b/pkg/configfilearg/defaultparser_test.go
index afb270a6a0..67abccb451 100644
--- a/pkg/configfilearg/defaultparser_test.go
+++ b/pkg/configfilearg/defaultparser_test.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ func Test_UnitMustParse(t *testing.T) {
 			args:   []string{"k3s", "server", "--write-kubeconfig-mode 644"},
 			config: "./testdata/defaultdata.yaml",
 			want: []string{"k3s", "server", "--token=12345", "--node-label=DEAFBEEF",
-				"--etcd-s3=true", "--etcd-s3-bucket=my-backup", "--write-kubeconfig-mode 644"},
+				"--etcd-s3=true", "--etcd-s3-bucket=my-backup", "--kubelet-arg=max-pods=999", "--write-kubeconfig-mode 644"},
 		},
 		{
 			name: "Basic etcd-snapshot",
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ func Test_UnitMustParse(t *testing.T) {
 			args:   []string{"k3s", "agent"},
 			config: "./testdata/defaultdata.yaml",
 			want: []string{"k3s", "agent", "--token=12345", "--node-label=DEAFBEEF",
-				"--etcd-s3=true", "--etcd-s3-bucket=my-backup", "--notaflag=true"},
+				"--etcd-s3=true", "--etcd-s3-bucket=my-backup", "--notaflag=true", "--kubelet-arg=max-pods=999"},
 		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
diff --git a/pkg/configfilearg/parser.go b/pkg/configfilearg/parser.go
index 50377be9c3..15e85b4c43 100644
--- a/pkg/configfilearg/parser.go
+++ b/pkg/configfilearg/parser.go
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func (p *Parser) stripInvalidFlags(command string, args []string) ([]string, err
 		}
 	}
 
-	re, err := regexp.Compile("^-+(.+)=")
+	re, err := regexp.Compile("^-+([^=]*)=")
 	if err != nil {
 		return args, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/configfilearg/testdata/defaultdata.yaml b/pkg/configfilearg/testdata/defaultdata.yaml
index 18c068740f..b17dcce210 100644
--- a/pkg/configfilearg/testdata/defaultdata.yaml
+++ b/pkg/configfilearg/testdata/defaultdata.yaml
@@ -2,4 +2,5 @@ token: 12345
 node-label: DEAFBEEF
 etcd-s3: true
 etcd-s3-bucket: my-backup
-notaflag : true
\ No newline at end of file
+notaflag : true
+kubelet-arg: "max-pods=999"
\ No newline at end of file