diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/README.md b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/README.md
index 42257f7df5225..57da4b190cca6 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/README.md
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/README.md
@@ -139,6 +139,8 @@ new lambda.NodejsFunction(this, 'my-handler', {
     },
     define: { // Replace strings during build time
       'process.env.API_KEY': JSON.stringify('xxx-xxxx-xxx'),
+      'process.env.PRODUCTION': JSON.stringify(true),
+      'process.env.NUMBER': JSON.stringify(123),
     },
     logLevel: LogLevel.SILENT, // defaults to LogLevel.WARNING
     keepNames: true, // defaults to false
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/lib/bundling.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/lib/bundling.ts
index 8d4ce3e7261d6..8624dce8c1359 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/lib/bundling.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/lib/bundling.ts
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ export class Bundling implements cdk.BundlingOptions {
       ...this.props.sourceMap ? ['--sourcemap'] : [],
       ...this.externals.map(external => `--external:${external}`),
       ...loaders.map(([ext, name]) => `--loader:${ext}=${name}`),
-      ...defines.map(([key, value]) => `--define:${key}=${value}`),
+      ...defines.map(([key, value]) => `--define:${key}=${JSON.stringify(value)}`),
       ...this.props.logLevel ? [`--log-level=${this.props.logLevel}`] : [],
       ...this.props.keepNames ? ['--keep-names'] : [],
       ...this.relativeTsconfigPath ? [`--tsconfig=${pathJoin(inputDir, this.relativeTsconfigPath)}`] : [],
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/test/__snapshots__/bundling.test.js.snap b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/test/__snapshots__/bundling.test.js.snap
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..13ae6a72da036
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/test/__snapshots__/bundling.test.js.snap
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+// Jest Snapshot v1, https://goo.gl/fbAQLP
+
+exports[`esbuild bundling with esbuild options 1`] = `
+"(() => {
+  // test/integ-handlers/define.ts
+  function handler() {
+    return [
+      \\"VALUE\\",
+      true,
+      7777,
+      'this is a \\"test\\"'
+    ];
+  }
+})();
+"
+`;
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/test/bundling.test.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/test/bundling.test.ts
index f6c373831526c..064c8458dbf97 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/test/bundling.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/test/bundling.test.ts
@@ -169,12 +169,15 @@ test('esbuild bundling with esbuild options', () => {
     footer: '/* comments */',
     forceDockerBundling: true,
     define: {
-      'DEBUG': 'true',
       'process.env.KEY': JSON.stringify('VALUE'),
+      'process.env.BOOL': 'true',
+      'process.env.NUMBER': '7777',
+      'process.env.STRING': JSON.stringify('this is a "test"'),
     },
   });
 
   // Correctly bundles with esbuild
+  const defineInstructions = '--define:process.env.KEY="\\"VALUE\\"" --define:process.env.BOOL="true" --define:process.env.NUMBER="7777" --define:process.env.STRING="\\"this is a \\\\\\"test\\\\\\"\\""';
   expect(Code.fromAsset).toHaveBeenCalledWith(path.dirname(depsLockFilePath), {
     assetHashType: AssetHashType.OUTPUT,
     bundling: expect.objectContaining({
@@ -184,13 +187,17 @@ test('esbuild bundling with esbuild options', () => {
           'npx esbuild --bundle "/asset-input/lib/handler.ts"',
           '--target=es2020 --platform=node --outfile="/asset-output/index.js"',
           '--minify --sourcemap --external:aws-sdk --loader:.png=dataurl',
-          '--define:DEBUG=true --define:process.env.KEY="VALUE"',
+          defineInstructions,
           '--log-level=silent --keep-names --tsconfig=/asset-input/lib/custom-tsconfig.ts',
           '--metafile=/asset-output/index.meta.json --banner=\'/* comments */\' --footer=\'/* comments */\'',
         ].join(' '),
       ],
     }),
   });
+
+  // Make sure that the define instructions are working as expected with the esbuild CLI
+  const bundleProcess = util.exec('bash', ['-c', `npx esbuild --bundle ${`${__dirname}/integ-handlers/define.ts`} ${defineInstructions}`]);
+  expect(bundleProcess.stdout.toString()).toMatchSnapshot();
 });
 
 test('Detects yarn.lock', () => {
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/test/integ-handlers/define.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/test/integ-handlers/define.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..bd66dd3920bab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/test/integ-handlers/define.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+export function handler() {
+  return [
+    process.env.KEY,
+    process.env.BOOL,
+    process.env.NUMBER,
+    process.env.STRING,
+  ];
+}