diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_opsworks_custom_layer_test.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_opsworks_custom_layer_test.go
index 14a65b106..a39b5dbdb 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_opsworks_custom_layer_test.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_opsworks_custom_layer_test.go
@@ -12,16 +12,13 @@ import (
 // and `aws-opsworks-service-role`.
 
 func TestAccAwsOpsworksCustomLayer(t *testing.T) {
-	opsiam := testAccAwsOpsworksStackIam{}
-	testAccAwsOpsworksStackPopulateIam(t, &opsiam)
-
 	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
 		PreCheck:     func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
 		Providers:    testAccProviders,
 		CheckDestroy: testAccCheckAwsOpsworksCustomLayerDestroy,
 		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
 			resource.TestStep{
-				Config: fmt.Sprintf(testAccAwsOpsworksCustomLayerConfigCreate, opsiam.ServiceRoleArn, opsiam.InstanceProfileArn),
+				Config: testAccAwsOpsworksCustomLayerConfigCreate,
 				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(
 						"aws_opsworks_custom_layer.tf-acc", "name", "tf-ops-acc-custom-layer",
@@ -68,7 +65,7 @@ func TestAccAwsOpsworksCustomLayer(t *testing.T) {
 				),
 			},
 			resource.TestStep{
-				Config: fmt.Sprintf(testAccAwsOpsworksCustomLayerConfigUpdate, opsiam.ServiceRoleArn, opsiam.InstanceProfileArn),
+				Config: testAccAwsOpsworksCustomLayerConfigUpdate,
 				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(
 						"aws_opsworks_custom_layer.tf-acc", "name", "tf-ops-acc-custom-layer",
diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_opsworks_stack_test.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_opsworks_stack_test.go
index 2a3e95b3c..63a27578c 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_opsworks_stack_test.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_opsworks_stack_test.go
@@ -8,23 +8,91 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
-	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/iam"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/opsworks"
 )
 
-// These tests assume the existence of predefined Opsworks IAM roles named `aws-opsworks-ec2-role`
-// and `aws-opsworks-service-role`.
+//////////////////////////////////////////////////
+//// Helper configs for the necessary IAM objects
+//////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+var testAccAwsOpsworksStackIamConfig = `
+resource "aws_iam_role" "opsworks_service" {
+    name = "terraform_testacc_opsworks_service"
+    assume_role_policy = <<EOT
+{
+  "Version": "2008-10-17",
+  "Statement": [
+    {
+      "Sid": "",
+      "Effect": "Allow",
+      "Principal": {
+        "Service": "opsworks.amazonaws.com"
+      },
+      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
+    }
+  ]
+}
+EOT
+}
+
+resource "aws_iam_role_policy" "opsworks_service" {
+    name = "terraform_testacc_opsworks_service"
+    role = "${aws_iam_role.opsworks_service.id}"
+    policy = <<EOT
+{
+  "Statement": [
+    {
+      "Action": [
+        "ec2:*",
+        "iam:PassRole",
+        "cloudwatch:GetMetricStatistics",
+        "elasticloadbalancing:*",
+        "rds:*"
+      ],
+      "Effect": "Allow",
+      "Resource": ["*"]
+    }
+  ]
+}
+EOT
+}
+
+resource "aws_iam_role" "opsworks_instance" {
+    name = "terraform_testacc_opsworks_instance"
+    assume_role_policy = <<EOT
+{
+  "Version": "2008-10-17",
+  "Statement": [
+    {
+      "Sid": "",
+      "Effect": "Allow",
+      "Principal": {
+        "Service": "ec2.amazonaws.com"
+      },
+      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
+    }
+  ]
+}
+EOT
+}
+
+resource "aws_iam_instance_profile" "opsworks_instance" {
+    name = "terraform_testacc_opsworks_instance"
+    roles = ["${aws_iam_role.opsworks_instance.name}"]
+}
+
+`
 
 ///////////////////////////////
 //// Tests for the No-VPC case
 ///////////////////////////////
 
-var testAccAwsOpsworksStackConfigNoVpcCreate = `
+var testAccAwsOpsworksStackConfigNoVpcCreate = testAccAwsOpsworksStackIamConfig + `
 resource "aws_opsworks_stack" "tf-acc" {
   name = "tf-opsworks-acc"
   region = "us-west-2"
-  service_role_arn = "%s"
-  default_instance_profile_arn = "%s"
+  service_role_arn = "${aws_iam_role.opsworks_service.arn}"
+  default_instance_profile_arn = "${aws_iam_instance_profile.opsworks_instance.arn}"
   default_availability_zone = "us-west-2a"
   default_os = "Amazon Linux 2014.09"
   default_root_device_type = "ebs"
@@ -33,12 +101,12 @@ resource "aws_opsworks_stack" "tf-acc" {
   use_opsworks_security_groups = false
 }
 `
-var testAccAWSOpsworksStackConfigNoVpcUpdate = `
+var testAccAWSOpsworksStackConfigNoVpcUpdate = testAccAwsOpsworksStackIamConfig + `
 resource "aws_opsworks_stack" "tf-acc" {
   name = "tf-opsworks-acc"
   region = "us-west-2"
-  service_role_arn = "%s"
-  default_instance_profile_arn = "%s"
+  service_role_arn = "${aws_iam_role.opsworks_service.arn}"
+  default_instance_profile_arn = "${aws_iam_instance_profile.opsworks_instance.arn}"
   default_availability_zone = "us-west-2a"
   default_os = "Amazon Linux 2014.09"
   default_root_device_type = "ebs"
@@ -56,20 +124,17 @@ resource "aws_opsworks_stack" "tf-acc" {
 `
 
 func TestAccAwsOpsworksStackNoVpc(t *testing.T) {
-	opsiam := testAccAwsOpsworksStackIam{}
-	testAccAwsOpsworksStackPopulateIam(t, &opsiam)
-
 	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
 		PreCheck:     func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
 		Providers:    testAccProviders,
 		CheckDestroy: testAccCheckAwsOpsworksStackDestroy,
 		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
 			resource.TestStep{
-				Config: fmt.Sprintf(testAccAwsOpsworksStackConfigNoVpcCreate, opsiam.ServiceRoleArn, opsiam.InstanceProfileArn),
+				Config: testAccAwsOpsworksStackConfigNoVpcCreate,
 				Check:  testAccAwsOpsworksStackCheckResourceAttrsCreate,
 			},
 			resource.TestStep{
-				Config: fmt.Sprintf(testAccAWSOpsworksStackConfigNoVpcUpdate, opsiam.ServiceRoleArn, opsiam.InstanceProfileArn),
+				Config: testAccAWSOpsworksStackConfigNoVpcUpdate,
 				Check:  testAccAwsOpsworksStackCheckResourceAttrsUpdate,
 			},
 		},
@@ -80,7 +145,7 @@ func TestAccAwsOpsworksStackNoVpc(t *testing.T) {
 //// Tests for the VPC case
 ////////////////////////////
 
-var testAccAwsOpsworksStackConfigVpcCreate = `
+var testAccAwsOpsworksStackConfigVpcCreate = testAccAwsOpsworksStackIamConfig + `
 resource "aws_vpc" "tf-acc" {
   cidr_block = "10.3.5.0/24"
 }
@@ -94,8 +159,8 @@ resource "aws_opsworks_stack" "tf-acc" {
   region = "us-west-2"
   vpc_id = "${aws_vpc.tf-acc.id}"
   default_subnet_id = "${aws_subnet.tf-acc.id}"
-  service_role_arn = "%s"
-  default_instance_profile_arn = "%s"
+  service_role_arn = "${aws_iam_role.opsworks_service.arn}"
+  default_instance_profile_arn = "${aws_iam_instance_profile.opsworks_instance.arn}"
   default_os = "Amazon Linux 2014.09"
   default_root_device_type = "ebs"
   custom_json = "{\"key\": \"value\"}"
@@ -104,7 +169,7 @@ resource "aws_opsworks_stack" "tf-acc" {
 }
 `
 
-var testAccAWSOpsworksStackConfigVpcUpdate = `
+var testAccAWSOpsworksStackConfigVpcUpdate = testAccAwsOpsworksStackIamConfig + `
 resource "aws_vpc" "tf-acc" {
   cidr_block = "10.3.5.0/24"
 }
@@ -118,8 +183,8 @@ resource "aws_opsworks_stack" "tf-acc" {
   region = "us-west-2"
   vpc_id = "${aws_vpc.tf-acc.id}"
   default_subnet_id = "${aws_subnet.tf-acc.id}"
-  service_role_arn = "%s"
-  default_instance_profile_arn = "%s"
+  service_role_arn = "${aws_iam_role.opsworks_service.arn}"
+  default_instance_profile_arn = "${aws_iam_instance_profile.opsworks_instance.arn}"
   default_os = "Amazon Linux 2014.09"
   default_root_device_type = "ebs"
   custom_json = "{\"key\": \"value\"}"
@@ -136,20 +201,17 @@ resource "aws_opsworks_stack" "tf-acc" {
 `
 
 func TestAccAwsOpsworksStackVpc(t *testing.T) {
-	opsiam := testAccAwsOpsworksStackIam{}
-	testAccAwsOpsworksStackPopulateIam(t, &opsiam)
-
 	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
 		PreCheck:     func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
 		Providers:    testAccProviders,
 		CheckDestroy: testAccCheckAwsOpsworksStackDestroy,
 		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
 			resource.TestStep{
-				Config: fmt.Sprintf(testAccAwsOpsworksStackConfigVpcCreate, opsiam.ServiceRoleArn, opsiam.InstanceProfileArn),
+				Config: testAccAwsOpsworksStackConfigVpcCreate,
 				Check:  testAccAwsOpsworksStackCheckResourceAttrsCreate,
 			},
 			resource.TestStep{
-				Config: fmt.Sprintf(testAccAWSOpsworksStackConfigVpcUpdate, opsiam.ServiceRoleArn, opsiam.InstanceProfileArn),
+				Config: testAccAWSOpsworksStackConfigVpcUpdate,
 				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
 					testAccAwsOpsworksStackCheckResourceAttrsUpdate,
 					testAccAwsOpsworksCheckVpc,
@@ -302,53 +364,3 @@ func testAccCheckAwsOpsworksStackDestroy(s *terraform.State) error {
 
 	return nil
 }
-
-// Holds the two IAM object ARNs used in stack objects we'll create.
-type testAccAwsOpsworksStackIam struct {
-	ServiceRoleArn     string
-	InstanceProfileArn string
-}
-
-func testAccAwsOpsworksStackPopulateIam(t *testing.T, opsiam *testAccAwsOpsworksStackIam) {
-	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
-		PreCheck:  func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
-		Providers: testAccProviders,
-		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
-			resource.TestStep{
-				Config: testAccInstanceConfig_pre, // noop
-				Check:  testAccCheckAwsOpsworksEnsureIam(t, opsiam),
-			},
-		},
-	})
-}
-
-func testAccCheckAwsOpsworksEnsureIam(t *testing.T, opsiam *testAccAwsOpsworksStackIam) func(*terraform.State) error {
-	return func(_ *terraform.State) error {
-		iamconn := testAccProvider.Meta().(*AWSClient).iamconn
-
-		serviceRoleOpts := &iam.GetRoleInput{
-			RoleName: aws.String("aws-opsworks-service-role"),
-		}
-		respServiceRole, err := iamconn.GetRole(serviceRoleOpts)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-
-		instanceProfileOpts := &iam.GetInstanceProfileInput{
-			InstanceProfileName: aws.String("aws-opsworks-ec2-role"),
-		}
-		respInstanceProfile, err := iamconn.GetInstanceProfile(instanceProfileOpts)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-
-		opsiam.ServiceRoleArn = *respServiceRole.Role.Arn
-		opsiam.InstanceProfileArn = *respInstanceProfile.InstanceProfile.Arn
-
-		t.Logf("[DEBUG] ServiceRoleARN for OpsWorks: %s", opsiam.ServiceRoleArn)
-		t.Logf("[DEBUG] Instance Profile ARN for OpsWorks: %s", opsiam.InstanceProfileArn)
-
-		return nil
-
-	}
-}