diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/config/options.go b/pkg/skaffold/config/options.go
index 19e834eade2..9563be8df5c 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/config/options.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/config/options.go
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func (opts *SkaffoldOptions) Labels() map[string]string {
 		labels["namespace"] = opts.Namespace
 	}
 	if len(opts.Profiles) > 0 {
-		labels["profiles"] = strings.Join(opts.Profiles, ",")
+		labels["profiles"] = strings.Join(opts.Profiles, "__")
 	}
 	for _, cl := range opts.CustomLabels {
 		l := strings.SplitN(cl, "=", 2)
diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/config/options_test.go b/pkg/skaffold/config/options_test.go
index 7212c50b107..717423adf9c 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/config/options_test.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/config/options_test.go
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func TestLabels(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			description:    "profiles",
 			options:        SkaffoldOptions{Profiles: []string{"profile1", "profile2"}},
-			expectedLabels: map[string]string{"profiles": "profile1,profile2"},
+			expectedLabels: map[string]string{"profiles": "profile1__profile2"},
 		},
 		{
 			description: "all labels",
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func TestLabels(t *testing.T) {
 			expectedLabels: map[string]string{
 				"cleanup":   "true",
 				"namespace": "namespace",
-				"profiles":  "p1,p2",
+				"profiles":  "p1__p2",
 			},
 		},
 		{