diff --git a/helpers/GenerateResourcesAndImage.ps1 b/helpers/GenerateResourcesAndImage.ps1
index 5b3c83842..f6fe10adf 100644
--- a/helpers/GenerateResourcesAndImage.ps1
+++ b/helpers/GenerateResourcesAndImage.ps1
@@ -268,14 +268,19 @@ Function GenerateResourcesAndImage {
             } else {
                 $AgentIp = "[]"
             }
+            if (-not $Tags) {
+                $Tags = @{}
+            }
         }
 
-        if ($Tags) {
-            $builderScriptPath_temp = $builderScriptPath.Replace(".json", "-temp.json")
-            $packer_script = Get-Content -Path $builderScriptPath | ConvertFrom-Json
-            $packer_script.builders | Add-Member -Name "azure_tags" -Value $Tags -MemberType NoteProperty
-            $packer_script | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3 | Out-File $builderScriptPath_temp
-            $builderScriptPath = $builderScriptPath_temp
+        if ($builderScriptPath.Contains(".json")) {
+            if ($Tags) {
+                $builderScriptPath_temp = $builderScriptPath.Replace(".json", "-temp.json")
+                $packer_script = Get-Content -Path $builderScriptPath | ConvertFrom-Json
+                $packer_script.builders | Add-Member -Name "azure_tags" -Value $Tags -MemberType NoteProperty
+                $packer_script | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3 | Out-File $builderScriptPath_temp
+                $builderScriptPath = $builderScriptPath_temp
+            }
         }
 
         & $packerBinary build -on-error="$($OnError)" `
@@ -288,6 +293,7 @@ Function GenerateResourcesAndImage {
             -var "storage_account=$($storageAccountName)" `
             -var "install_password=$($InstallPassword)" `
             -var "allowed_inbound_ip_addresses=$($AgentIp)" `
+            -var "azure_tags=$($Tags | ConvertTo-Json -Compress)" `
             $builderScriptPath
     }
     catch {
diff --git a/images/linux/ubuntu2204.pkr.hcl b/images/linux/ubuntu2204.pkr.hcl
index 9b6e0851a..7a718eb60 100644
--- a/images/linux/ubuntu2204.pkr.hcl
+++ b/images/linux/ubuntu2204.pkr.hcl
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ variable "allowed_inbound_ip_addresses" {
   default = []
 }
 
-variable "azure_tag" {
+variable "azure_tags" {
   type    = map(string)
   default = {}
 }
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ source "azure-arm" "build_vhd" {
   vm_size                                = "${var.vm_size}"
 
   dynamic "azure_tag" {
-    for_each = var.azure_tag
+    for_each = var.azure_tags
     content {
       name = azure_tag.key
       value = azure_tag.value