diff --git a/config/cloudinit/datasource/vmware/vmware.go b/config/cloudinit/datasource/vmware/vmware.go
index 228cca6c..80c50eb4 100755
--- a/config/cloudinit/datasource/vmware/vmware.go
+++ b/config/cloudinit/datasource/vmware/vmware.go
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ func (v VMWare) FetchMetadata() (metadata datasource.Metadata, err error) {
 }
 
 func (v VMWare) FetchUserdata() ([]byte, error) {
-	encoding, err := v.readConfig("cloud-init.config.data.encoding")
+	encoding, err := v.readConfig("cloud-init.data.encoding")
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/docs/os/running-rancheros/cloud/vmware-esxi/index.md b/docs/os/running-rancheros/cloud/vmware-esxi/index.md
index 47b6e892..d1a6a800 100644
--- a/docs/os/running-rancheros/cloud/vmware-esxi/index.md
+++ b/docs/os/running-rancheros/cloud/vmware-esxi/index.md
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ As of v1.1.0, RancherOS automatically detects that it is running on VMware ESXi,
 | `dns.server.<x>` | IP address |
 | `dns.domain.<y> |	DNS search domain` |
 | `cloud-init.config.data | string` |
-| `cloud-init.config.data.encoding` |	{"", "base64", "gzip+base64"} |
+| `cloud-init.data.encoding` |	{"", "base64", "gzip+base64"} |
 | `cloud-init.config.url` |	URL |
 
 > **Note:** "n", "m", "l", "x" and "y" are 0-indexed, incrementing integers. The identifier for an interface (`<n>`) is used in the generation of the default interface name in the form `eth<n>`.