diff --git a/datadog/resource_datadog_integration_aws.go b/datadog/resource_datadog_integration_aws.go
index 64db268bcf..f6ca547836 100644
--- a/datadog/resource_datadog_integration_aws.go
+++ b/datadog/resource_datadog_integration_aws.go
@@ -361,7 +361,8 @@ func resourceDatadogIntegrationAwsImport(ctx context.Context, d *schema.Resource
 	if d.Id() == "" {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error importing aws integration resource. Resource with id `%s` does not exist", originalId)
 	}
-
-	d.Set("external_id", os.Getenv("EXTERNAL_ID"))
+	if v, ok := os.LookupEnv("EXTERNAL_ID"); ok {
+		d.Set("external_id", v)
+	}
 	return []*schema.ResourceData{d}, nil
 }
diff --git a/docs/resources/integration_aws.md b/docs/resources/integration_aws.md
index e3ded6bdcf..95a0190fa7 100644
--- a/docs/resources/integration_aws.md
+++ b/docs/resources/integration_aws.md
@@ -55,6 +55,12 @@ resource "datadog_integration_aws" "sandbox" {
 Import is supported using the following syntax:
 
 ```shell
-# Amazon Web Services integrations can be imported using their account ID and role name separated with a colon (:), while the external_id should be passed by setting an environment variable called EXTERNAL_ID
+# Amazon Web Services integrations can be imported using their account ID and role name separated with a colon (:),
+# The EXTERNAL_ID variable is optional and allows to set external_id
+
+# Import will be done and the external_id will be set to the value of the EXTERNAL_ID variable
 EXTERNAL_ID=${external_id} terraform import datadog_integration_aws.test ${account_id}:${role_name}
+
+# Import will be done and the external_id will not be set
+terraform import datadog_integration_aws.test ${account_id}:${role_name}
 ```
diff --git a/examples/resources/datadog_integration_aws/import.sh b/examples/resources/datadog_integration_aws/import.sh
index c71b9779f6..028b2dff2f 100644
--- a/examples/resources/datadog_integration_aws/import.sh
+++ b/examples/resources/datadog_integration_aws/import.sh
@@ -1,2 +1,8 @@
-# Amazon Web Services integrations can be imported using their account ID and role name separated with a colon (:), while the external_id should be passed by setting an environment variable called EXTERNAL_ID
+# Amazon Web Services integrations can be imported using their account ID and role name separated with a colon (:),
+# The EXTERNAL_ID variable is optional and allows to set external_id
+
+# Import will be done and the external_id will be set to the value of the EXTERNAL_ID variable
 EXTERNAL_ID=${external_id} terraform import datadog_integration_aws.test ${account_id}:${role_name}
+
+# Import will be done and the external_id will not be set
+terraform import datadog_integration_aws.test ${account_id}:${role_name}
\ No newline at end of file