diff --git a/google/resource_container_cluster.go b/google/resource_container_cluster.go
index dd8ceb5f..641a461f 100644
--- a/google/resource_container_cluster.go
+++ b/google/resource_container_cluster.go
@@ -1145,14 +1145,9 @@ func resourceContainerClusterUpdate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) er
 	}
 
 	if d.HasChange("resource_labels") {
-		resourceLabelsI := d.Get("resource_labels").(map[string]interface{})
-		resourceLabels := make(map[string]string, len(resourceLabelsI))
-		for k, v := range resourceLabelsI {
-			resourceLabels[k] = v.(string)
-		}
-
+		resourceLabels := d.Get("resource_labels").(map[string]interface{})
 		req := &containerBeta.SetLabelsRequest{
-			ResourceLabels: resourceLabels,
+			ResourceLabels: convertStringMap(resourceLabels),
 		}
 		updateF := func() error {
 			name := containerClusterFullName(project, location, clusterName)