diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1f2abff..3eb0c07 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ map(object({
   os\_disk\_size\_gb      = (Optional) The Agent Operating System disk size in GB. Changing this forces a new resource to be created.  
   tags                 = (Optional) A mapping of tags to assign to the resource. At this time there's a bug in the AKS API where Tags for a Node Pool are not stored in the correct case - you [may wish to use Terraform's `ignore_changes` functionality to ignore changes to the casing](https://www.terraform.io/language/meta-arguments/lifecycle#ignore_changess) until this is fixed in the AKS API.  
   labels               = (Optional) A map of Kubernetes labels which should be applied to nodes in this Node Pool.  
-  taints               = (Optional) A list of the taints added to new nodes during node pool create and scale.
+  node\_taints               = (Optional) A list of the taints added to new nodes during node pool create and scale.
 }))
 
 Example input:
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ map(object({
     os_disk_size_gb = optional(number, null)
     tags            = optional(map(string), {})
     labels          = optional(map(string), {})
-    taints          = list(string)
+    node_taints     = optional(list(string), null)
   }))
 ```
 
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ Description: (Optional) A list of the taints added to new nodes during node pool
 
 Type: `list(string)`
 
-Default: `{}`
+Default: `null`
 
 ### <a name="input_orchestrator_version"></a> [orchestrator\_version](#input\_orchestrator\_version)
 
diff --git a/locals.tf b/locals.tf
index 2b821da..2b1c99c 100644
--- a/locals.tf
+++ b/locals.tf
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ locals {
         max_count            = pool.max_count
         min_count            = pool.min_count
         labels               = pool.labels
-        taint                = pool.taints
+        node_taints          = pool.node_taints
         os_sku               = pool.os_sku
         mode                 = pool.mode
         os_disk_size_gb      = pool.os_disk_size_gb
diff --git a/main.tf b/main.tf
index 667272c..9314318 100644
--- a/main.tf
+++ b/main.tf
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ resource "azurerm_kubernetes_cluster_node_pool" "this" {
   max_count             = each.value.max_count
   min_count             = each.value.min_count
   node_labels           = each.value.labels
-  node_taints           = each.value.taints
+  node_taints           = each.value.node_taints
   orchestrator_version  = each.value.orchestrator_version
   os_disk_size_gb       = each.value.os_disk_size_gb
   os_sku                = each.value.os_sku
diff --git a/variables.tf b/variables.tf
index 2a79ddf..b83ab55 100644
--- a/variables.tf
+++ b/variables.tf
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ variable "node_pools" {
     os_disk_size_gb = optional(number, null)
     tags            = optional(map(string), {})
     labels          = optional(map(string), {})
-    taints          = list(string)
+    node_taints     = optional(list(string), null)
   }))
   default     = {}
   description = <<-EOT
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ map(object({
   os_disk_size_gb      = (Optional) The Agent Operating System disk size in GB. Changing this forces a new resource to be created.
   tags                 = (Optional) A mapping of tags to assign to the resource. At this time there's a bug in the AKS API where Tags for a Node Pool are not stored in the correct case - you [may wish to use Terraform's `ignore_changes` functionality to ignore changes to the casing](https://www.terraform.io/language/meta-arguments/lifecycle#ignore_changess) until this is fixed in the AKS API.
   labels               = (Optional) A map of Kubernetes labels which should be applied to nodes in this Node Pool.
-  taints               = (Optional) A list of the taints added to new nodes during node pool create and scale.
+  node_taints               = (Optional) A list of the taints added to new nodes during node pool create and scale.
 }))
 
 Example input:
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ EOT
 
 variable "node_taints" {
   type        = list(string)
-  default     = {}
+  default     = null
   description = "(Optional) A list of the taints added to new nodes during node pool create and scale. Changing this forces a new resource to be created."
 }