diff --git a/pkg/cli/defaults/defaults.go b/pkg/cli/defaults/defaults.go
index 84854336a6..5bcbbf6c2c 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/defaults/defaults.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/defaults/defaults.go
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ func Set(clx *cli.Context, images images.Images, dataDir string, cisMode bool) e
 	if cisMode {
 		cmds.AgentConfig.ExtraKubeletArgs = append(
 			[]string{
-				"--protect-kernel-defaults=true",
+				"protect-kernel-defaults=true",
 			},
 			cmds.AgentConfig.ExtraKubeletArgs...)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/rke2/rke2.go b/pkg/rke2/rke2.go
index a86e6a0744..b9088036db 100644
--- a/pkg/rke2/rke2.go
+++ b/pkg/rke2/rke2.go
@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ func setup(clx *cli.Context, cfg Config) error {
 
 	agentManifestsDir := filepath.Join(dataDir, "agent", config.DefaultPodManifestPath)
 	agentImagesDir := filepath.Join(dataDir, "agent", "images")
-	cisMode := clx.String("profile") != ""
 
 	managed.RegisterDriver(&etcd.ETCD{})