diff --git a/kubernetes/provider.go b/kubernetes/provider.go
index 3245dbd647..2b40cbe872 100644
--- a/kubernetes/provider.go
+++ b/kubernetes/provider.go
@@ -76,6 +76,12 @@ func Provider() *schema.Provider {
 				Optional:    true,
 				Description: "A list of paths to kube config files. Can be set with KUBE_CONFIG_PATHS environment variable.",
 			},
+			"config_path": {
+				Type:        schema.TypeString,
+				Optional:    true,
+				DefaultFunc: schema.EnvDefaultFunc("KUBE_CONFIG_PATH", ""),
+				Description: "Path to the kube config file, defaults to ~/.kube/config",
+			},
 			"config_context": {
 				Type:        schema.TypeString,
 				Optional:    true,
@@ -263,7 +269,10 @@ func initializeConfiguration(d *schema.ResourceData) (*restclient.Config, error)
 	loader := &clientcmd.ClientConfigLoadingRules{}
 
 	configPaths := []string{}
-	if v, ok := d.Get("config_paths").([]string); ok && len(v) > 0 {
+
+	if v, ok := d.Get("config_path").(string); ok && v != "" {
+		configPaths = []string{v}
+	} else if v, ok := d.Get("config_paths").([]string); ok && len(v) > 0 {
 		configPaths = v
 	} else if v := os.Getenv("KUBE_CONFIG_PATHS"); v != "" {
 		// NOTE we have to do this here because the schema
@@ -281,7 +290,12 @@ func initializeConfiguration(d *schema.ResourceData) (*restclient.Config, error)
 			log.Printf("[DEBUG] Using kubeconfig: %s", path)
 			expandedPaths = append(expandedPaths, path)
 		}
-		loader.Precedence = expandedPaths
+
+		if len(expandedPaths) == 1 {
+			loader.ExplicitPath = expandedPaths[0]
+		} else {
+			loader.Precedence = expandedPaths
+		}
 
 		ctxSuffix := "; default context"
 
diff --git a/kubernetes/provider_test.go b/kubernetes/provider_test.go
index 3015b250e2..41487f4456 100644
--- a/kubernetes/provider_test.go
+++ b/kubernetes/provider_test.go
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ func TestProvider_configure(t *testing.T) {
 	resetEnv := unsetEnv(t)
 	defer resetEnv()
 
-	os.Setenv("KUBE_CONFIG_PATHS", "test-fixtures/kube-config.yaml")
+	os.Setenv("KUBE_CONFIG_PATH", "test-fixtures/kube-config.yaml")
 	os.Setenv("KUBE_CTX", "gcp")
 
 	rc := terraform.NewResourceConfigRaw(map[string]interface{}{})
diff --git a/website/docs/index.html.markdown b/website/docs/index.html.markdown
index e9687eead0..b45c37b1f0 100644
--- a/website/docs/index.html.markdown
+++ b/website/docs/index.html.markdown
@@ -15,9 +15,7 @@ Use the navigation to the left to read about the available resources.
 
 ```hcl
 provider "kubernetes" {
-  config_paths = [
-    "~/.kube/config"
-  ]
+  config_path    = "~/.kube/config"
   config_context = "my-context"
 }
 
@@ -124,6 +122,7 @@ 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) A path to a kube config files. Can be sourced from `KUBE_CONFIG_PATH`.
 * `config_paths` - (Optional) A list of paths to the kube config files. Can be sourced from `KUBE_CONFIG_PATHS`, which allows `:` to be used to delimit multiple paths.
 * `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`.