diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/README.md b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/README.md
index c52b0fe2570c9..981bf6755148e 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/README.md
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/README.md
@@ -144,8 +144,8 @@ new lambda.NodejsFunction(this, 'my-handler', {
     keepNames: true, // defaults to false
     tsconfig: 'custom-tsconfig.json', // use custom-tsconfig.json instead of default,
     metafile: true, // include meta file, defaults to false
-    banner : '/* comments */', // by default no comments are passed
-    footer : '/* comments */', // by default no comments are passed
+    banner : '/* comments */', // requires esbuild >= 0.9.0, defaults to none
+    footer : '/* comments */', // requires esbuild >= 0.9.0, defaults to none
   },
 });
 ```
@@ -166,7 +166,6 @@ new lambda.NodejsFunction(this, 'my-handler-with-commands', {
     }
     // ...
   }
-  
 });
 ```
 
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/lib/bundling.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/lib/bundling.ts
index 8624dce8c1359..d28f43ca874c1 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/lib/bundling.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/lib/bundling.ts
@@ -153,8 +153,8 @@ export class Bundling implements cdk.BundlingOptions {
       ...this.props.keepNames ? ['--keep-names'] : [],
       ...this.relativeTsconfigPath ? [`--tsconfig=${pathJoin(inputDir, this.relativeTsconfigPath)}`] : [],
       ...this.props.metafile ? [`--metafile=${pathJoin(outputDir, 'index.meta.json')}`] : [],
-      ...this.props.banner ? [`--banner='${this.props.banner}'`] : [],
-      ...this.props.footer ? [`--footer='${this.props.footer}'`] : [],
+      ...this.props.banner ? [`--banner:js=${JSON.stringify(this.props.banner)}`] : [],
+      ...this.props.footer ? [`--footer:js=${JSON.stringify(this.props.footer)}`] : [],
     ].join(' ');
 
     let depsCommand = '';
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 064c8458dbf97..e5441cb5aeadb 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/test/bundling.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda-nodejs/test/bundling.test.ts
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ test('esbuild bundling with esbuild options', () => {
           '--minify --sourcemap --external:aws-sdk --loader:.png=dataurl',
           defineInstructions,
           '--log-level=silent --keep-names --tsconfig=/asset-input/lib/custom-tsconfig.ts',
-          '--metafile=/asset-output/index.meta.json --banner=\'/* comments */\' --footer=\'/* comments */\'',
+          '--metafile=/asset-output/index.meta.json --banner:js="/* comments */" --footer:js="/* comments */"',
         ].join(' '),
       ],
     }),