diff --git a/scripts/aks-as-mgmt.sh b/scripts/aks-as-mgmt.sh
index 2f6047973ec..4f7f6c9ce04 100755
--- a/scripts/aks-as-mgmt.sh
+++ b/scripts/aks-as-mgmt.sh
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ export KUBERNETES_VERSION="${KUBERNETES_VERSION:-v1.30.2}"
 export AZURE_LOCATION="${AZURE_LOCATION:-westus2}"
 export AKS_NODE_VM_SIZE="${AKS_NODE_VM_SIZE:-"Standard_B2s"}"
 export AKS_NODE_COUNT="${AKS_NODE_COUNT:-1}"
+export AZURE_NODE_MACHINE_TYPE="${AZURE_NODE_MACHINE_TYPE:-"Standard_B2s"}"
 export MGMT_CLUSTER_KUBECONFIG="${MGMT_CLUSTER_KUBECONFIG:-$REPO_ROOT/aks-mgmt.config}"
 export AZURE_IDENTITY_ID_FILEPATH="${AZURE_IDENTITY_ID_FILEPATH:-$REPO_ROOT/azure_identity_id}"
 export AZWI_STORAGE_ACCOUNT="capzcioidcissuer${RANDOM_SUFFIX}"