diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/kubernetes/port_forward.go b/pkg/skaffold/kubernetes/port_forward.go
index 2c4ff33a457..ccd2b21019e 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/kubernetes/port_forward.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/kubernetes/port_forward.go
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ type kubectlForwarder struct{}
 func (*kubectlForwarder) Forward(pfe *portForwardEntry) error {
 	logrus.Debugf("Port forwarding %s", pfe)
 	portNumber := fmt.Sprintf("%d", pfe.port)
-	cmd := exec.Command("kubectl", "port-forward", fmt.Sprintf("pod/%s", pfe.podName), portNumber, portNumber)
+	cmd := exec.Command("kubectl", "port-forward", pfe.podName, portNumber, portNumber)
 	pfe.cmd = cmd
 
 	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}