diff --git a/builtin/providers/kubernetes/provider.go b/builtin/providers/kubernetes/provider.go
index 7847beac76f8..fa7917fdcfc2 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/kubernetes/provider.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/kubernetes/provider.go
@@ -61,9 +61,14 @@ func Provider() terraform.ResourceProvider {
 				Description: "PEM-encoded root certificates bundle for TLS authentication.",
 			},
 			"config_path": {
-				Type:        schema.TypeString,
-				Optional:    true,
-				DefaultFunc: schema.EnvDefaultFunc("KUBE_CONFIG", "~/.kube/config"),
+				Type:     schema.TypeString,
+				Optional: true,
+				DefaultFunc: schema.MultiEnvDefaultFunc(
+					[]string{
+						"KUBE_CONFIG",
+						"KUBECONFIG",
+					},
+					"~/.kube/config"),
 				Description: "Path to the kube config file, defaults to ~/.kube/config",
 			},
 			"config_context": {
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/kubernetes/index.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/kubernetes/index.html.markdown
index 1b8ded61a647..c95057f5f1f6 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/kubernetes/index.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/kubernetes/index.html.markdown
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 * `client_certificate` - (Optional) PEM-encoded client certificate for TLS authentication. Can be sourced from `KUBE_CLIENT_CERT_DATA`.
 * `client_key` - (Optional) PEM-encoded client certificate key for TLS authentication. Can be sourced from `KUBE_CLIENT_KEY_DATA`.
 * `cluster_ca_certificate` - (Optional) PEM-encoded root certificates bundle for TLS authentication. Can be sourced from `KUBE_CLUSTER_CA_CERT_DATA`.
-* `config_path` - (Optional) Path to the kube config file. Can be sourced from `KUBE_CONFIG`. Defaults to `~/.kube/config`.
+* `config_path` - (Optional) Path to the kube config file. Can be sourced from `KUBE_CONFIG` or `KUBECONFIG`. Defaults to `~/.kube/config`.
 * `config_context` - (Optional) Context to choose from the config file. Can be sourced from `KUBE_CTX`.
 * `config_context_auth_info` - (Optional) Authentication info context of the kube config (name of the kubeconfig user, `--user` flag in `kubectl`). Can be sourced from `KUBE_CTX_AUTH_INFO`.
 * `config_context_cluster` - (Optional) Cluster context of the kube config (name of the kubeconfig cluster, `--cluster` flag in `kubectl`). Can be sourced from `KUBE_CTX_CLUSTER`.