diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bd6d9f68..135e768b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ In order to use this new functionality, run:
 
 `$: bundle exec matrix_from_metadata_v2 --custom-matrix matrix.json`
 
-> Note: The file should contain a valid Array of JSON Objects (i.e. `[{"label":"AlmaLinux-8","provider":"provision_service","image":"almalinux-cloud/almalinux-8"}, {..}]`), otherwise it will throw an error.
+> Note: The file should contain a valid Array of JSON Objects (i.e. `[{"label":"AlmaLinux-8","provider":"provision_service","image":"almalinux-cloud/almalinux-8", "machine_type":"n1-standard-2"}, {..}]`), otherwise it will throw an error.
 
 ## Documentation
 
diff --git a/exe/matrix_from_metadata_v2 b/exe/matrix_from_metadata_v2
index 44d8b552..67ea0dcf 100755
--- a/exe/matrix_from_metadata_v2
+++ b/exe/matrix_from_metadata_v2
@@ -157,7 +157,9 @@ else
         matrix[:platforms] << {
           label: image_key,
           provider: 'provision_service',
-          image: IMAGE_TABLE[image_key]
+          image: IMAGE_TABLE[image_key],
+          # if the image is to be an ARM based instance, use t2a-standard-2 machine type
+          machine_type: image_key.end_with?('-arm') ? 't2a-standard-2' : 'n1-standard-2'
         }
       elsif DOCKER_PLATFORMS.key?(image_key) && !exclude_list.include?(image_key.downcase)
         matrix[:platforms] << {
diff --git a/spec/exe/matrix_from_metadata_v2_spec.rb b/spec/exe/matrix_from_metadata_v2_spec.rb
index 849355d5..0c24956f 100644
--- a/spec/exe/matrix_from_metadata_v2_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/exe/matrix_from_metadata_v2_spec.rb
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@
           'matrix={',
           '"platforms":[',
           '{"label":"CentOS-6","provider":"docker","image":"litmusimage/centos:6"},',
-          '{"label":"RedHat-8","provider":"provision_service","image":"rhel-8"},',
-          '{"label":"RedHat-9-arm","provider":"provision_service","image":"rhel-9-arm64"},',
+          '{"label":"RedHat-8","provider":"provision_service","image":"rhel-8","machine_type":"n1-standard-2"},',
+          '{"label":"RedHat-9-arm","provider":"provision_service","image":"rhel-9-arm64","machine_type":"t2a-standard-2"},',
           '{"label":"Ubuntu-18.04","provider":"docker","image":"litmusimage/ubuntu:18.04"}',
           '],',
           '"collection":[',
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@
           'matrix={',
           '"platforms":[',
           '{"label":"CentOS-6","provider":"docker","image":"litmusimage/centos:6"},',
-          '{"label":"RedHat-8","provider":"provision_service","image":"rhel-8"},',
-          '{"label":"RedHat-9-arm","provider":"provision_service","image":"rhel-9-arm64"}',
+          '{"label":"RedHat-8","provider":"provision_service","image":"rhel-8","machine_type":"n1-standard-2"},',
+          '{"label":"RedHat-9-arm","provider":"provision_service","image":"rhel-9-arm64","machine_type":"t2a-standard-2"}',
           '],',
           '"collection":[',
           '"puppet7-nightly","puppet8-nightly"',
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@
           'matrix={',
           '"platforms":[',
           '{"label":"CentOS-6","provider":"docker","image":"litmusimage/centos:6"},',
-          '{"label":"RedHat-9-arm","provider":"provision_service","image":"rhel-9-arm64"}',
+          '{"label":"RedHat-9-arm","provider":"provision_service","image":"rhel-9-arm64","machine_type":"t2a-standard-2"}',
           '],',
           '"collection":[',
           '"puppet7-nightly","puppet8-nightly"',