diff --git a/builtin/credential/aws/backend_test.go b/builtin/credential/aws/backend_test.go
index 98446029fd..67c4fb7ce4 100644
--- a/builtin/credential/aws/backend_test.go
+++ b/builtin/credential/aws/backend_test.go
@@ -1519,7 +1519,7 @@ func TestBackendAcc_LoginWithCallerIdentity(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	if resp == nil || resp.Auth == nil || resp.IsError() {
-		t.Errorf("bad: expected valid login: resp:%#v", resp)
+		t.Fatalf("bad: expected valid login: resp:%#v", resp)
 	}
 
 	renewReq := &logical.Request{
diff --git a/builtin/credential/aws/path_login.go b/builtin/credential/aws/path_login.go
index 99edadb74f..66effda567 100644
--- a/builtin/credential/aws/path_login.go
+++ b/builtin/credential/aws/path_login.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
+	"reflect"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -1086,14 +1087,12 @@ func (b *backend) pathLoginUpdateIam(
 	if headersB64 == "" {
 		return logical.ErrorResponse("missing iam_request_headers"), nil
 	}
-	headersJson, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(headersB64)
+	headers, err := parseIamRequestHeaders(headersB64)
 	if err != nil {
-		return logical.ErrorResponse("failed to base64 decode iam_request_headers"), nil
+		return logical.ErrorResponse(fmt.Sprintf("Error parsing iam_request_headers: %v", err)), nil
 	}
-	var headers http.Header
-	err = jsonutil.DecodeJSON(headersJson, &headers)
-	if err != nil {
-		return logical.ErrorResponse(fmt.Sprintf("failed to JSON decode iam_request_headers %q: %v", headersJson, err)), nil
+	if headers == nil {
+		return logical.ErrorResponse("nil response when parsing iam_request_headers"), nil
 	}
 
 	config, err := b.lockedClientConfigEntry(req.Storage)
@@ -1399,6 +1398,37 @@ func parseGetCallerIdentityResponse(response string) (GetCallerIdentityResponse,
 	return result, err
 }
 
+func parseIamRequestHeaders(headersB64 string) (http.Header, error) {
+	headersJson, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(headersB64)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to base64 decode iam_request_headers")
+	}
+	var headersDecoded map[string]interface{}
+	err = jsonutil.DecodeJSON(headersJson, &headersDecoded)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to JSON decode iam_request_headers %q: %v", headersJson, err)
+	}
+	headers := make(http.Header)
+	for k, v := range headersDecoded {
+		switch typedValue := v.(type) {
+		case string:
+			headers.Add(k, typedValue)
+		case []interface{}:
+			for _, individualVal := range typedValue {
+				switch possibleStrVal := individualVal.(type) {
+				case string:
+					headers.Add(k, possibleStrVal)
+				default:
+					return nil, fmt.Errorf("header %q contains value %q that has type %s, not string", k, individualVal, reflect.TypeOf(individualVal))
+				}
+			}
+		default:
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("header %q value %q has type %s, not string or []interface", k, typedValue, reflect.TypeOf(v))
+		}
+	}
+	return headers, nil
+}
+
 func submitCallerIdentityRequest(method, endpoint string, parsedUrl *url.URL, body string, headers http.Header) (*GetCallerIdentityResult, error) {
 	// NOTE: We need to ensure we're calling STS, instead of acting as an unintended network proxy
 	// The protection against this is that this method will only call the endpoint specified in the
diff --git a/builtin/credential/aws/path_login_test.go b/builtin/credential/aws/path_login_test.go
index 1a3b32429c..58f253bb16 100644
--- a/builtin/credential/aws/path_login_test.go
+++ b/builtin/credential/aws/path_login_test.go
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
 package awsauth
 
 import (
+	"encoding/base64"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
+	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 )
 
@@ -143,3 +147,43 @@ func TestBackend_validateVaultHeaderValue(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("did NOT validate valid POST request with split Authorization header: %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestBackend_pathLogin_parseIamRequestHeaders(t *testing.T) {
+	testIamParser := func(headers interface{}, expectedHeaders http.Header) error {
+		headersJson, err := json.Marshal(headers)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("unable to JSON encode headers: %v", err)
+		}
+		headersB64 := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(headersJson)
+
+		parsedHeaders, err := parseIamRequestHeaders(headersB64)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("error parsing encoded headers: %v", err)
+		}
+		if parsedHeaders == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("nil result from parsing headers")
+		}
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(parsedHeaders, expectedHeaders) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("parsed headers not equal to input headers")
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	headersGoStyle := http.Header{
+		"Header1": []string{"Value1"},
+		"Header2": []string{"Value2"},
+	}
+	headersMixedType := map[string]interface{}{
+		"Header1": "Value1",
+		"Header2": []string{"Value2"},
+	}
+
+	err := testIamParser(headersGoStyle, headersGoStyle)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("error parsing go-style headers: %v", err)
+	}
+	err = testIamParser(headersMixedType, headersGoStyle)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("error parsing mixed-style headers: %v", err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/website/source/docs/auth/aws.html.md b/website/source/docs/auth/aws.html.md
index 1c7e260009..19c8c640b9 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/auth/aws.html.md
+++ b/website/source/docs/auth/aws.html.md
@@ -1872,8 +1872,10 @@ The response will be in JSON. For example:
       <li>
         <span class="param">iam_request_headers</span>
         <span class="param-flags">required</span>
-        Base64-encoded, JSON-serialized representation of the HTTP request
-        headers. The JSON serialization assumes that each header key maps to an
+        Base64-encoded, JSON-serialized representation of the
+        sts:GetCallerIdentity HTTP request
+        headers. The JSON serialization assumes that each header key maps to
+        either a string value or an
         array of string values (though the length of that array will probably
         only be one). If the `iam_server_id_header_value` is configured in Vault
         for the aws auth mount, then the headers must include the