diff --git a/k8s.mk b/k8s.mk
index 8fb1926..7c41c85 100644
--- a/k8s.mk
+++ b/k8s.mk
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 #
 # deploys k8s
 
+MANDATORY-k8s = K8S_CONTEXT
+
 start-k8s:
 	@- echo "\n### starting deployment with k8s"
 	@- echo "\n### setting kubernetes context to $(K8S_CONTEXT)"
@@ -11,7 +13,7 @@ start-k8s:
 	@- imagePullSecrets.sh
 
 	@- echo "\n### run kubectl apply -f kubernetes.yaml and secrets.yaml"
-	@- cat kubernetes.yaml secrets.yaml | kubectl apply -f -
+	@- cat kubernetes.yaml secrets.yaml | envsubst | kubectl apply -f -
 
 pull-k8s:
 # nop