diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/describe/describe.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/describe/describe.go
index 754ddd0d246..a8ba083b145 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/describe/describe.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/describe/describe.go
@@ -1082,15 +1082,17 @@ func printProjectedVolumeSource(projected *corev1.ProjectedVolumeSource, w Prefi
 	w.Write(LEVEL_2, "Type:\tProjected (a volume that contains injected data from multiple sources)\n")
 	for _, source := range projected.Sources {
 		if source.Secret != nil {
+			optional := source.Secret.Optional != nil && *source.Secret.Optional
 			w.Write(LEVEL_2, "SecretName:\t%v\n"+
-				"    SecretOptionalName:\t%v\n",
-				source.Secret.Name, source.Secret.Optional)
+				"    Optional:\t%v\n",
+				source.Secret.Name, optional)
 		} else if source.DownwardAPI != nil {
 			w.Write(LEVEL_2, "DownwardAPI:\ttrue\n")
 		} else if source.ConfigMap != nil {
+			optional := source.ConfigMap.Optional != nil && *source.ConfigMap.Optional
 			w.Write(LEVEL_2, "ConfigMapName:\t%v\n"+
-				"    ConfigMapOptional:\t%v\n",
-				source.ConfigMap.Name, source.ConfigMap.Optional)
+				"    Optional:\t%v\n",
+				source.ConfigMap.Name, optional)
 		} else if source.ServiceAccountToken != nil {
 			w.Write(LEVEL_2, "TokenExpirationSeconds:\t%d\n",
 				*source.ServiceAccountToken.ExpirationSeconds)
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/describe/describe_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/describe/describe_test.go
index 946ece04b68..1d0213abeb4 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/describe/describe_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/describe/describe_test.go
@@ -6906,3 +6906,43 @@ func TestDescribeSeccompProfile(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestDescribeProjectedVolumesOptionalSecret(t *testing.T) {
+	fake := fake.NewSimpleClientset(&corev1.Pod{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      "bar",
+			Namespace: "foo",
+		},
+		Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+			Volumes: []corev1.Volume{
+				{
+					Name: "optional-secret",
+					VolumeSource: corev1.VolumeSource{
+						Projected: &corev1.ProjectedVolumeSource{
+							Sources: []corev1.VolumeProjection{
+								{
+									Secret: &corev1.SecretProjection{
+										LocalObjectReference: corev1.LocalObjectReference{
+											Name: "optional-secret",
+										},
+										Optional: ptr.To(true),
+									},
+								},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	})
+	c := &describeClient{T: t, Namespace: "foo", Interface: fake}
+	d := PodDescriber{c}
+	out, err := d.Describe("foo", "bar", DescriberSettings{ShowEvents: true})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	expectedOut := "SecretName:  optional-secret\n    Optional:    true"
+	if !strings.Contains(out, expectedOut) {
+		t.Errorf("expected to find %q in output: %q", expectedOut, out)
+	}
+}