diff --git a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
index f493c537290..2a0f7a397a0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 Breaking Change
 ---
 * `aws/endpoints`: Removes `DecodeModel` and `DecodeModelOptions` from the package ([#509](https://github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/pull/509))
+* `aws/external`: Removes several export constants and types ([#508](https://github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/pull/508))
+  * No longer exports AWS environment constants used by the external environment configuration loader
+  * `DefaultSharedConfigProfile` is now defined an exported constant
 
 Services
 ---
diff --git a/aws/external/env_config.go b/aws/external/env_config.go
index 23b14ea53e8..0228d6df247 100644
--- a/aws/external/env_config.go
+++ b/aws/external/env_config.go
@@ -15,56 +15,56 @@ const CredentialsSourceName = "EnvConfigCredentials"
 
 // Environment variables that will be read for configuration values.
 const (
-	AWSAccessKeyIDEnvVar = "AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID"
-	AWSAccessKeyEnvVar   = "AWS_ACCESS_KEY"
+	awsAccessKeyIDEnvVar = "AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID"
+	awsAccessKeyEnvVar   = "AWS_ACCESS_KEY"
 
-	AWSSecreteAccessKeyEnvVar = "AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY"
-	AWSSecreteKeyEnvVar       = "AWS_SECRET_KEY"
+	awsSecreteAccessKeyEnvVar = "AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY"
+	awsSecreteKeyEnvVar       = "AWS_SECRET_KEY"
 
-	AWSSessionTokenEnvVar = "AWS_SESSION_TOKEN"
+	awsSessionTokenEnvVar = "AWS_SESSION_TOKEN"
 
-	AWSContainerCredentialsEndpointEnvVar     = "AWS_CONTAINER_CREDENTIALS_FULL_URI"
-	AWSContainerCredentialsRelativePathEnvVar = "AWS_CONTAINER_CREDENTIALS_RELATIVE_URI"
-	AWSContainerPProviderAuthorizationEnvVar  = "AWS_CONTAINER_AUTHORIZATION_TOKEN"
+	awsContainerCredentialsEndpointEnvVar     = "AWS_CONTAINER_CREDENTIALS_FULL_URI"
+	awsContainerCredentialsRelativePathEnvVar = "AWS_CONTAINER_CREDENTIALS_RELATIVE_URI"
+	awsContainerPProviderAuthorizationEnvVar  = "AWS_CONTAINER_AUTHORIZATION_TOKEN"
 
-	AWSRegionEnvVar        = "AWS_REGION"
-	AWSDefaultRegionEnvVar = "AWS_DEFAULT_REGION"
+	awsRegionEnvVar        = "AWS_REGION"
+	awsDefaultRegionEnvVar = "AWS_DEFAULT_REGION"
 
-	AWSProfileEnvVar        = "AWS_PROFILE"
-	AWSDefaultProfileEnvVar = "AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE"
+	awsProfileEnvVar        = "AWS_PROFILE"
+	awsDefaultProfileEnvVar = "AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE"
 
-	AWSSharedCredentialsFileEnvVar = "AWS_SHARED_CREDENTIALS_FILE"
+	awsSharedCredentialsFileEnvVar = "AWS_SHARED_CREDENTIALS_FILE"
 
-	AWSConfigFileEnvVar = "AWS_CONFIG_FILE"
+	awsConfigFileEnvVar = "AWS_CONFIG_FILE"
 
-	AWSCustomCABundleEnvVar = "AWS_CA_BUNDLE"
+	awsCustomCABundleEnvVar = "AWS_CA_BUNDLE"
 
-	AWSWebIdentityTokenFilePathEnvKey = "AWS_WEB_IDENTITY_TOKEN_FILE"
+	awsWebIdentityTokenFilePathEnvKey = "AWS_WEB_IDENTITY_TOKEN_FILE"
 
-	AWSRoleARNEnvKey         = "AWS_ROLE_ARN"
-	AWSRoleSessionNameEnvKey = "AWS_ROLE_SESSION_NAME"
+	awsRoleARNEnvKey         = "AWS_ROLE_ARN"
+	awsRoleSessionNameEnvKey = "AWS_ROLE_SESSION_NAME"
 
-	AWSEnableEndpointDiscoveryEnvKey = "AWS_ENABLE_ENDPOINT_DISCOVERY"
+	awsEnableEndpointDiscoveryEnvKey = "AWS_ENABLE_ENDPOINT_DISCOVERY"
 
-	AWSS3UseARNRegionEnvVar = "AWS_S3_USE_ARN_REGION"
+	awsS3UseARNRegionEnvVar = "AWS_S3_USE_ARN_REGION"
 )
 
 var (
 	credAccessEnvKeys = []string{
-		AWSAccessKeyIDEnvVar,
-		AWSAccessKeyEnvVar,
+		awsAccessKeyIDEnvVar,
+		awsAccessKeyEnvVar,
 	}
 	credSecretEnvKeys = []string{
-		AWSSecreteAccessKeyEnvVar,
-		AWSSecreteKeyEnvVar,
+		awsSecreteAccessKeyEnvVar,
+		awsSecreteKeyEnvVar,
 	}
 	regionEnvKeys = []string{
-		AWSRegionEnvVar,
-		AWSDefaultRegionEnvVar,
+		awsRegionEnvVar,
+		awsDefaultRegionEnvVar,
 	}
 	profileEnvKeys = []string{
-		AWSProfileEnvVar,
-		AWSDefaultProfileEnvVar,
+		awsProfileEnvVar,
+		awsDefaultProfileEnvVar,
 	}
 )
 
@@ -196,32 +196,32 @@ func NewEnvConfig() (EnvConfig, error) {
 	setStringFromEnvVal(&creds.AccessKeyID, credAccessEnvKeys)
 	setStringFromEnvVal(&creds.SecretAccessKey, credSecretEnvKeys)
 	if creds.HasKeys() {
-		creds.SessionToken = os.Getenv(AWSSessionTokenEnvVar)
+		creds.SessionToken = os.Getenv(awsSessionTokenEnvVar)
 		cfg.Credentials = creds
 	}
 
-	cfg.ContainerCredentialsEndpoint = os.Getenv(AWSContainerCredentialsEndpointEnvVar)
-	cfg.ContainerCredentialsRelativePath = os.Getenv(AWSContainerCredentialsRelativePathEnvVar)
-	cfg.ContainerAuthorizationToken = os.Getenv(AWSContainerPProviderAuthorizationEnvVar)
+	cfg.ContainerCredentialsEndpoint = os.Getenv(awsContainerCredentialsEndpointEnvVar)
+	cfg.ContainerCredentialsRelativePath = os.Getenv(awsContainerCredentialsRelativePathEnvVar)
+	cfg.ContainerAuthorizationToken = os.Getenv(awsContainerPProviderAuthorizationEnvVar)
 
 	setStringFromEnvVal(&cfg.Region, regionEnvKeys)
 	setStringFromEnvVal(&cfg.SharedConfigProfile, profileEnvKeys)
 
-	cfg.SharedCredentialsFile = os.Getenv(AWSSharedCredentialsFileEnvVar)
-	cfg.SharedConfigFile = os.Getenv(AWSConfigFileEnvVar)
+	cfg.SharedCredentialsFile = os.Getenv(awsSharedCredentialsFileEnvVar)
+	cfg.SharedConfigFile = os.Getenv(awsConfigFileEnvVar)
 
-	cfg.CustomCABundle = os.Getenv(AWSCustomCABundleEnvVar)
+	cfg.CustomCABundle = os.Getenv(awsCustomCABundleEnvVar)
 
-	cfg.WebIdentityTokenFilePath = os.Getenv(AWSWebIdentityTokenFilePathEnvKey)
+	cfg.WebIdentityTokenFilePath = os.Getenv(awsWebIdentityTokenFilePathEnvKey)
 
-	cfg.RoleARN = os.Getenv(AWSRoleARNEnvKey)
-	cfg.RoleSessionName = os.Getenv(AWSRoleSessionNameEnvKey)
+	cfg.RoleARN = os.Getenv(awsRoleARNEnvKey)
+	cfg.RoleSessionName = os.Getenv(awsRoleSessionNameEnvKey)
 
-	if err := setBoolPtrFromEnvVal(&cfg.EnableEndpointDiscovery, []string{AWSEnableEndpointDiscoveryEnvKey}); err != nil {
+	if err := setBoolPtrFromEnvVal(&cfg.EnableEndpointDiscovery, []string{awsEnableEndpointDiscoveryEnvKey}); err != nil {
 		return cfg, err
 	}
 
-	if err := setBoolPtrFromEnvVal(&cfg.S3UseARNRegion, []string{AWSS3UseARNRegionEnvVar}); err != nil {
+	if err := setBoolPtrFromEnvVal(&cfg.S3UseARNRegion, []string{awsS3UseARNRegionEnvVar}); err != nil {
 		return cfg, err
 	}
 
diff --git a/aws/external/shared_config.go b/aws/external/shared_config.go
index 4f55f2dc74c..da9e23beabd 100644
--- a/aws/external/shared_config.go
+++ b/aws/external/shared_config.go
@@ -44,12 +44,15 @@ const (
 
 	// ErrCodeSharedConfig AWS SDK Error Code for Shared Configuration Errors
 	ErrCodeSharedConfig = "SharedConfigErr"
+
+	// DefaultSharedConfigProfile is the default profile to be used when
+	// loading configuration from the config files if another profile name
+	// is not provided.
+	DefaultSharedConfigProfile = `default`
 )
 
-// DefaultSharedConfigProfile is the default profile to be used when
-// loading configuration from the config files if another profile name
-// is not provided.
-var DefaultSharedConfigProfile = `default`
+// defaultSharedConfigProfile allows for swapping the default profile for testing
+var defaultSharedConfigProfile = DefaultSharedConfigProfile
 
 // DefaultSharedCredentialsFilename returns the SDK's default file path
 // for the shared credentials file.
@@ -82,8 +85,7 @@ var DefaultSharedConfigFiles = []string{
 
 // AssumeRoleConfig provides the values defining the configuration for an IAM
 // assume role.
-type AssumeRoleConfig struct {
-}
+type AssumeRoleConfig struct{}
 
 // SharedConfig represents the configuration fields of the SDK config files.
 type SharedConfig struct {
@@ -199,7 +201,7 @@ func LoadSharedConfig(configs Configs) (Config, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	if !ok {
-		profile = DefaultSharedConfigProfile
+		profile = defaultSharedConfigProfile
 	}
 
 	files, ok, err = GetSharedConfigFiles(configs)
diff --git a/aws/external/shared_config_test.go b/aws/external/shared_config_test.go
index 0796e9f750e..92e8f82d4d6 100644
--- a/aws/external/shared_config_test.go
+++ b/aws/external/shared_config_test.go
@@ -406,10 +406,10 @@ func cmpFiles(expects, actuals []sharedConfigFile) bool {
 }
 
 func TestLoadSharedConfig(t *testing.T) {
-	origProf := DefaultSharedConfigProfile
+	origProf := defaultSharedConfigProfile
 	origFiles := DefaultSharedConfigFiles
 	defer func() {
-		DefaultSharedConfigProfile = origProf
+		defaultSharedConfigProfile = origProf
 		DefaultSharedConfigFiles = origFiles
 	}()
 
@@ -500,11 +500,11 @@ func TestLoadSharedConfig(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for i, c := range cases {
 		t.Run(strconv.Itoa(i), func(t *testing.T) {
-			DefaultSharedConfigProfile = origProf
+			defaultSharedConfigProfile = origProf
 			DefaultSharedConfigFiles = origFiles
 
 			if len(c.Profile) > 0 {
-				DefaultSharedConfigProfile = c.Profile
+				defaultSharedConfigProfile = c.Profile
 			}
 			if len(c.Files) > 0 {
 				DefaultSharedConfigFiles = c.Files