diff --git a/main.tf b/main.tf
index 3a2c470b983c03a8a502d4520c2a3704ce4cef65..8836a81ae2b571b0d8981fa19232acaad5503fc7 100644
--- a/main.tf
+++ b/main.tf
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ module "ssh-key" {
 }
 
 resource "azurerm_kubernetes_cluster" "main" {
-  name                    = "${var.prefix}-aks"
+  name                    = var.cluster_name
   kubernetes_version      = var.kubernetes_version
   location                = data.azurerm_resource_group.main.location
   resource_group_name     = data.azurerm_resource_group.main.name
diff --git a/variables.tf b/variables.tf
index 1744ac76cf6dc09120bf4c246ebd29854dbfb844..b64ad553f6e45e45cb2c49bbf1785bd6a0d80a4b 100644
--- a/variables.tf
+++ b/variables.tf
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ variable "prefix" {
   type        = string
 }
 
+variable "cluster_name" {
+  description = "the name to give the AKS cluster resource"
+  type = string
+}
+
 variable "client_id" {
   description = "(Optional) The Client ID (appId) for the Service Principal used for the AKS deployment"
   type        = string