diff --git a/e2e/k8sworkload.yaml b/e2e/k8sworkload.yaml
index 764ec7e4..c95d7f77 100644
--- a/e2e/k8sworkload.yaml
+++ b/e2e/k8sworkload.yaml
@@ -141,12 +141,12 @@ spec:
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 data:
-  privatekey: |
+  ssh-privatekey: |
     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
 kind: Secret
 metadata:
   name: host-publickey-key
-type: Opaque
+type: kubernetes.io/ssh-auth
 ---
 apiVersion: sshpiper.com/v1beta1
 kind: Pipe
diff --git a/plugin/kubernetes/kubernetes.go b/plugin/kubernetes/kubernetes.go
index 6e5ab42b..89d2646c 100644
--- a/plugin/kubernetes/kubernetes.go
+++ b/plugin/kubernetes/kubernetes.go
@@ -169,16 +169,13 @@ func (p *plugin) createUpstream(conn libplugin.ConnMetadata, pipe *piperv1beta1.
 	}
 
 	anno := pipe.GetAnnotations()
-	k := anno["privatekey_field_name"]
-	if k == "" {
-		k = "privatekey"
-	}
-
-	data := secret.Data[k]
-	if data != nil {
-		u.Auth = libplugin.CreatePrivateKeyAuth(data)
-		p.cache.Set(conn.UniqueID(), pipe, gocache.DefaultExpiration)
-		return u, nil
+	for _, k := range []string{"ssh-privatekey", "privatekey", anno["privatekey_field_name"]} {
+		data := secret.Data[k]
+		if data != nil {
+			u.Auth = libplugin.CreatePrivateKeyAuth(data)
+			p.cache.Set(conn.UniqueID(), pipe, gocache.DefaultExpiration)
+			return u, nil
+		}
 	}
 
 	return nil, fmt.Errorf("no password or private key found")
diff --git a/plugin/kubernetes/sample.yaml b/plugin/kubernetes/sample.yaml
index 52786e6a..679c5379 100644
--- a/plugin/kubernetes/sample.yaml
+++ b/plugin/kubernetes/sample.yaml
@@ -142,19 +142,19 @@ spec:
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 data:
-  privatekey: |
+  ssh-privatekey: |
     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
 kind: Secret
 metadata:
   name: host-publickey-key
-type: Opaque
+type: kubernetes.io/ssh-auth
 ---
 apiVersion: sshpiper.com/v1beta1
 kind: Pipe
 metadata:
   name: pipe-publickey
   annotations:
-    privatekey_field_name: privatekey # this is optional, default is privatekey
+    privatekey_field_name: ssh-privatekey # this is optional, default is ssh-privatekey
 spec:
   from:
   - username: ".*" # catch all