diff --git a/cmd/main.go b/cmd/main.go
index 062e99e..aa7ace8 100644
--- a/cmd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/main.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 var valueFiles valueFilesList
 var targetDir string
 var profile string
+var prefix string
 var verbose bool
 var dryRun bool
 
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ func main() {
 	f.BoolVarP(&dryRun, "dry-run", "d", false, "doesn't replace the file content")
 	f.StringVarP(&targetDir, "target-dir", "o", "", "dir to output content")
 	f.StringVarP(&profile, "profile", "p", "", "aws profile to fetch the ssm parameters")
+	f.StringVarP(&prefix, "prefix", "", "", "prefix to apply by default to parameters")
 
 	cmd.MarkFlagRequired("values")
 
@@ -56,7 +58,7 @@ func main() {
 }
 
 func run(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-	funcMap := hssm.GetFuncMap(profile)
+	funcMap := hssm.GetFuncMap(profile, prefix)
 	for _, filePath := range valueFiles {
 		content, err := hssm.ExecuteTemplate(filePath, funcMap, verbose)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/template.go b/internal/template.go
index 86fa4b5..6ff5142 100644
--- a/internal/template.go
+++ b/internal/template.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func ExecuteTemplate(sourceFilePath string, funcMap template.FuncMap, verbose bo
 }
 
 // GetFuncMap builds the relevant function map to helm_ssm
-func GetFuncMap(profile string) template.FuncMap {
+func GetFuncMap(profile string, prefix string) template.FuncMap {
 	// Clone the func map because we are adding context-specific functions.
 	var funcMap template.FuncMap = map[string]interface{}{}
 	for k, v := range sprig.GenericFuncMap() {
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ func GetFuncMap(profile string) template.FuncMap {
 
 	awsSession := newAWSSession(profile)
 	funcMap["ssm"] = func(ssmPath string, options ...string) (string, error) {
-		optStr, err := resolveSSMParameter(awsSession, ssmPath, options)
+		optStr, err := resolveSSMParameter(awsSession, prefix, ssmPath, options)
 		str := ""
 		if optStr != nil {
 			str = *optStr
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ func GetFuncMap(profile string) template.FuncMap {
 	return funcMap
 }
 
-func resolveSSMParameter(session *session.Session, ssmPath string, options []string) (*string, error) {
+func resolveSSMParameter(session *session.Session, defaultPrefix string, ssmPath string, options []string) (*string, error) {
 	opts, err := handleOptions(options)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -86,7 +86,14 @@ func resolveSSMParameter(session *session.Session, ssmPath string, options []str
 		svc = ssm.New(session)
 	}
 
-	return GetSSMParameter(svc, opts["prefix"]+ssmPath, defaultValue, true)
+	var ssmFullPath string
+	if optPrefix, exists := opts["prefix"]; exists {
+		ssmFullPath = optPrefix + ssmPath
+	} else {
+		ssmFullPath = defaultPrefix + ssmPath
+	}
+
+	return GetSSMParameter(svc, ssmFullPath, defaultValue, true)
 }
 
 func handleOptions(options []string) (map[string]string, error) {
@@ -106,9 +113,6 @@ func handleOptions(options []string) (map[string]string, error) {
 	if _, exists := opts["required"]; !exists {
 		opts["required"] = "true"
 	}
-	if _, exists := opts["prefix"]; !exists {
-		opts["prefix"] = ""
-	}
 	return opts, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/template_test.go b/internal/template_test.go
index bcddb01..abbf2ab 100644
--- a/internal/template_test.go
+++ b/internal/template_test.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func TestFailExecuteTemplate(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestSsmFunctionExistsInFuncMap(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Logf("\"ssm\" function should exist in function map.")
-	funcMap := GetFuncMap("")
+	funcMap := GetFuncMap("", "")
 	keys := make([]string, len(funcMap))
 	for k := range funcMap {
 		keys = append(keys, k)
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ func TestSsmFunctionExistsInFuncMap(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestSprigFunctionsExistInFuncMap(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Logf("\"quote\" function (from sprig) should exist in function map.")
-	funcMap := GetFuncMap("")
+	funcMap := GetFuncMap("", "")
 	keys := make([]string, len(funcMap))
 	for k := range funcMap {
 		keys = append(keys, k)