diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
index 3d682b3e8c..505b98dd7e 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
@@ -868,7 +868,7 @@ func generateCfgFromFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, k8sVersion string, drvName string)
 	}
 
 	mem := suggestMemoryAllocation(sysLimit, containerLimit)
-	if viper.GetString(memory) != "" {
+	if cmd.Flags().Changed(memory) {
 		mem = pkgutil.CalculateSizeInMB(viper.GetString(memory))
 	} else {
 		glog.Infof("Using suggested %dMB memory alloc based on sys=%dMB, container=%dMB", mem, sysLimit, containerLimit)