diff --git a/charts/capi-runtime-extensions/defaultclusterclasses/aws-cluster-class.yaml b/charts/capi-runtime-extensions/defaultclusterclasses/aws-cluster-class.yaml
index 8be958785..8c26f47fe 100644
--- a/charts/capi-runtime-extensions/defaultclusterclasses/aws-cluster-class.yaml
+++ b/charts/capi-runtime-extensions/defaultclusterclasses/aws-cluster-class.yaml
@@ -78,19 +78,19 @@ spec:
         clusterConfiguration:
           apiServer:
             extraArgs:
-              cloud-provider: aws
+              cloud-provider: external
           controllerManager:
             extraArgs:
-              cloud-provider: aws
+              cloud-provider: external
         initConfiguration:
           nodeRegistration:
             kubeletExtraArgs:
-              cloud-provider: aws
+              cloud-provider: external
             name: '{{ ds.meta_data.local_hostname }}'
         joinConfiguration:
           nodeRegistration:
             kubeletExtraArgs:
-              cloud-provider: aws
+              cloud-provider: external
             name: '{{ ds.meta_data.local_hostname }}'
 ---
 apiVersion: infrastructure.cluster.x-k8s.io/v1beta2
@@ -129,5 +129,5 @@ spec:
       joinConfiguration:
         nodeRegistration:
           kubeletExtraArgs:
-            cloud-provider: aws
+            cloud-provider: external
           name: '{{ ds.meta_data.local_hostname }}'
diff --git a/hack/examples/sync.sh b/hack/examples/sync.sh
index 7738a24c7..fcf96f100 100755
--- a/hack/examples/sync.sh
+++ b/hack/examples/sync.sh
@@ -27,3 +27,6 @@ kustomize build ./hack/examples |
     >(gojq --yaml-input --yaml-output '. | select(.metadata.labels["cluster.x-k8s.io/provider"] == "aws" and ( .kind != "Cluster" and .kind != "AWSClusterStaticIdentity"))' >"${EXAMPLE_CLUSTERCLASSES_DIR}/aws-cluster-class.yaml") \
     >(gojq --yaml-input --yaml-output '. | select(.metadata.labels["cluster.x-k8s.io/provider"] == "aws" and ( .kind == "Cluster" or .kind == "AWSClusterStaticIdentity"))' >"${EXAMPLE_CLUSTERS_DIR}/aws-cluster.yaml") \
     >/dev/null
+
+# TODO Remove once CAPA templates default to using external cloud provider.
+sed -i'' s/cloud-provider:\ aws/cloud-provider:\ external/g "${EXAMPLE_CLUSTERCLASSES_DIR}/aws-cluster-class.yaml"
diff --git a/make/clusterctl.mk b/make/clusterctl.mk
index dec74d364..8c49beeb1 100644
--- a/make/clusterctl.mk
+++ b/make/clusterctl.mk
@@ -4,14 +4,14 @@
 .PHONY: clusterctl.init
 clusterctl.init:
 	env CLUSTER_TOPOLOGY=true \
-			EXP_RUNTIME_SDK=true \
-			EXP_CLUSTER_RESOURCE_SET=true \
-			EXP_MACHINE_POOL=true \
-			AWS_B64ENCODED_CREDENTIALS= \
-			clusterctl init \
-		--kubeconfig=$(KIND_KUBECONFIG) \
-		--infrastructure docker,aws \
-		--wait-providers
+	    EXP_RUNTIME_SDK=true \
+	    EXP_CLUSTER_RESOURCE_SET=true \
+	    EXP_MACHINE_POOL=true \
+	    AWS_B64ENCODED_CREDENTIALS= \
+	    clusterctl init \
+	      --kubeconfig=$(KIND_KUBECONFIG) \
+	      --infrastructure docker,aws \
+	      --wait-providers
 
 .PHONY: clusterctl.delete
 clusterctl.delete: