diff --git a/ee/control/consumers/keyvalueconsumer/key_value_consumer.go b/ee/control/consumers/keyvalueconsumer/key_value_consumer.go
index bd752b06e..2d2a2381f 100644
--- a/ee/control/consumers/keyvalueconsumer/key_value_consumer.go
+++ b/ee/control/consumers/keyvalueconsumer/key_value_consumer.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func (c *KeyValueConsumer) Update(data io.Reader) error {
 	}
 
 	// Turn the map into a slice of key, value, ... and send it to the thing storing this data
-	_, err := c.updater.Update(mapToSlice(kvPairs)...)
+	_, err := c.updater.Update(kvPairs)
 
 	return err
 }
diff --git a/pkg/agent/flags/flag_controller.go b/pkg/agent/flags/flag_controller.go
index 9913598a7..3f973d04e 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/flags/flag_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/flags/flag_controller.go
@@ -65,14 +65,16 @@ func (fc *FlagController) set(key keys.FlagKey, value []byte) error {
 
 // Update bulk replaces agent flags and stores them.
 // Observers will be notified of changed flags and deleted flags.
-func (fc *FlagController) Update(pairs ...string) ([]string, error) {
+func (fc *FlagController) Update(kvPairs map[string]string) ([]string, error) {
 	// Attempt to bulk replace the store with the key-values
-	deletedKeys, err := fc.agentFlagsStore.Update(pairs...)
+	deletedKeys, err := fc.agentFlagsStore.Update(kvPairs)
 
 	// Extract just the keys from the key-value pairs
-	var updatedKeys []string
-	for i := 0; i < len(pairs); i += 2 {
-		updatedKeys = append(updatedKeys, pairs[i])
+	updatedKeys := make([]string, len(kvPairs))
+	i := 0
+	for k := range kvPairs {
+		updatedKeys[i] = k
+		i++
 	}
 
 	// Changed keys is the union of updated keys and deleted keys
diff --git a/pkg/agent/flags/flag_controller_test.go b/pkg/agent/flags/flag_controller_test.go
index c7c502633..9a432ff52 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/flags/flag_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/flags/flag_controller_test.go
@@ -189,12 +189,12 @@ func TestControllerUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 
 	tests := []struct {
 		name        string
-		pairs       []string
+		kvPairs     map[string]string
 		changedKeys []string
 	}{
 		{
 			name:        "happy path",
-			pairs:       []string{keys.ControlRequestInterval.String(), "125000", keys.ControlServerURL.String(), "kolide-app.com"},
+			kvPairs:     map[string]string{keys.ControlRequestInterval.String(): "125000", keys.ControlServerURL.String(): "kolide-app.com"},
 			changedKeys: []string{keys.ControlRequestInterval.String(), keys.ControlServerURL.String()},
 		},
 	}
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ func TestControllerUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 
 			fc.RegisterChangeObserver(mockObserver, keys.ToFlagKeys(tt.changedKeys)...)
 
-			changedKeys, err := fc.Update(tt.pairs...)
+			changedKeys, err := fc.Update(tt.kvPairs)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			assert.Equal(t, tt.changedKeys, changedKeys)
diff --git a/pkg/agent/storage/bbolt/keyvalue_store_bbolt.go b/pkg/agent/storage/bbolt/keyvalue_store_bbolt.go
index 14959db3a..29c16d2dd 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/storage/bbolt/keyvalue_store_bbolt.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/storage/bbolt/keyvalue_store_bbolt.go
@@ -138,16 +138,11 @@ func (s *bboltKeyValueStore) ForEach(fn func(k, v []byte) error) error {
 	})
 }
 
-func (s *bboltKeyValueStore) Update(pairs ...string) ([]string, error) {
+func (s *bboltKeyValueStore) Update(kvPairs map[string]string) ([]string, error) {
 	if s == nil || s.db == nil {
 		return nil, NoDbError{}
 	}
 
-	kvPairs := make(map[string]string)
-	for i := 0; i < len(pairs)-1; i += 2 {
-		kvPairs[pairs[i]] = pairs[i+1]
-	}
-
 	err := s.db.Update(func(tx *bbolt.Tx) error {
 		b := tx.Bucket([]byte(s.bucketName))
 		if b == nil {
diff --git a/pkg/agent/storage/ci/keyvalue_store_test.go b/pkg/agent/storage/ci/keyvalue_store_test.go
index f24fa62eb..2961bbcbe 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/storage/ci/keyvalue_store_test.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/storage/ci/keyvalue_store_test.go
@@ -161,17 +161,17 @@ func Test_Updates(t *testing.T) {
 
 	tests := []struct {
 		name    string
-		updates [][]string
+		updates []map[string]string
 		want    []map[string]string
 	}{
 		{
 			name:    "empty",
-			updates: [][]string{{}, {}},
+			updates: []map[string]string{{}, {}},
 			want:    []map[string]string{},
 		},
 		{
 			name:    "single",
-			updates: [][]string{{"one", "one"}, {"one", "new_one"}},
+			updates: []map[string]string{{"one": "one"}, {"one": "new_one"}},
 			want: []map[string]string{
 				{
 					"key":   "one",
@@ -181,16 +181,16 @@ func Test_Updates(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name: "multiple",
-			updates: [][]string{
+			updates: []map[string]string{
 				{
-					"one", "one",
-					"two", "two",
-					"three", "three",
+					"one":   "one",
+					"two":   "two",
+					"three": "three",
 				},
 				{
-					"one", "new_one",
-					"two", "new_two",
-					"three", "new_three",
+					"one":   "new_one",
+					"two":   "new_two",
+					"three": "new_three",
 				},
 			},
 			want: []map[string]string{
@@ -210,17 +210,17 @@ func Test_Updates(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name: "delete stale keys",
-			updates: [][]string{
+			updates: []map[string]string{
 				{
-					"one", "one",
-					"two", "two",
-					"three", "three",
-					"four", "four",
-					"five", "five",
-					"six", "six",
+					"one":   "one",
+					"two":   "two",
+					"three": "three",
+					"four":  "four",
+					"five":  "five",
+					"six":   "six",
 				},
 				{
-					"four", "four",
+					"four": "four",
 				},
 			},
 			want: []map[string]string{
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ func Test_Updates(t *testing.T) {
 
 			for _, s := range getStores(t) {
 				for _, update := range tt.updates {
-					s.Update(update...)
+					s.Update(update)
 				}
 
 				kvps, err := getKeyValueRows(s, tt.name)
diff --git a/pkg/agent/storage/inmemory/keyvalue_store_in_memory.go b/pkg/agent/storage/inmemory/keyvalue_store_in_memory.go
index 3d93d5981..5a3cf9d61 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/storage/inmemory/keyvalue_store_in_memory.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/storage/inmemory/keyvalue_store_in_memory.go
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func (s *inMemoryKeyValueStore) ForEach(fn func(k, v []byte) error) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (s *inMemoryKeyValueStore) Update(pairs ...string) ([]string, error) {
+func (s *inMemoryKeyValueStore) Update(kvPairs map[string]string) ([]string, error) {
 	if s == nil {
 		return nil, errors.New("store is nil")
 	}
@@ -86,11 +86,6 @@ func (s *inMemoryKeyValueStore) Update(pairs ...string) ([]string, error) {
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	defer s.mu.Unlock()
 
-	kvPairs := make(map[string]string)
-	for i := 0; i < len(pairs)-1; i += 2 {
-		kvPairs[pairs[i]] = pairs[i+1]
-	}
-
 	s.items = make(map[string][]byte)
 
 	for key, value := range kvPairs {
diff --git a/pkg/agent/types/keyvalue_store.go b/pkg/agent/types/keyvalue_store.go
index e6c1b761a..4616bed01 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/types/keyvalue_store.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/types/keyvalue_store.go
@@ -33,10 +33,10 @@ type Iterator interface {
 
 // Updater is an interface for bulk replacing data in a key/value store.
 type Updater interface {
-	// Update takes a sequence of alternating key-value pairs, and inserts
+	// Update takes a map of key-value pairs, and inserts
 	// these key-values into the store. Any preexisting keys in the store which
 	// do not exist in data will be deleted.
-	Update(pairs ...string) ([]string, error)
+	Update(kvPairs map[string]string) ([]string, error)
 }
 
 // GetterSetter is an interface that groups the Get and Set methods.
diff --git a/pkg/agent/types/mocks/keyvalue_store.go b/pkg/agent/types/mocks/keyvalue_store.go
index e9a2dcff1..2fda48617 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/types/mocks/keyvalue_store.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/types/mocks/keyvalue_store.go
@@ -83,31 +83,25 @@ func (_m *GetterSetterDeleterIteratorUpdater) Set(key []byte, value []byte) erro
 	return r0
 }
 
-// Update provides a mock function with given fields: pairs
-func (_m *GetterSetterDeleterIteratorUpdater) Update(pairs ...string) ([]string, error) {
-	_va := make([]interface{}, len(pairs))
-	for _i := range pairs {
-		_va[_i] = pairs[_i]
-	}
-	var _ca []interface{}
-	_ca = append(_ca, _va...)
-	ret := _m.Called(_ca...)
+// Update provides a mock function with given fields: kvPairs
+func (_m *GetterSetterDeleterIteratorUpdater) Update(kvPairs map[string]string) ([]string, error) {
+	ret := _m.Called(kvPairs)
 
 	var r0 []string
 	var r1 error
-	if rf, ok := ret.Get(0).(func(...string) ([]string, error)); ok {
-		return rf(pairs...)
+	if rf, ok := ret.Get(0).(func(map[string]string) ([]string, error)); ok {
+		return rf(kvPairs)
 	}
-	if rf, ok := ret.Get(0).(func(...string) []string); ok {
-		r0 = rf(pairs...)
+	if rf, ok := ret.Get(0).(func(map[string]string) []string); ok {
+		r0 = rf(kvPairs)
 	} else {
 		if ret.Get(0) != nil {
 			r0 = ret.Get(0).([]string)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if rf, ok := ret.Get(1).(func(...string) error); ok {
-		r1 = rf(pairs...)
+	if rf, ok := ret.Get(1).(func(map[string]string) error); ok {
+		r1 = rf(kvPairs)
 	} else {
 		r1 = ret.Error(1)
 	}