diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_ami.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_ami.go
index 7dd16fb10..18e7713a7 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_ami.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_ami.go
@@ -18,8 +18,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	AWSAMISleepDuration = 4 * time.Second
-	AWSAMIRetryCount    = 5
+	AWSAMIRetryTimeout    = 10 * time.Minute
+	AWSAMIRetryDelay      = 5 * time.Second
+	AWSAMIRetryMinTimeout = 3 * time.Second
 )
 
 func resourceAwsAmi() *schema.Resource {
@@ -299,20 +300,21 @@ func resourceAwsAmiDelete(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error {
 
 func AMIStateRefreshFunc(client *ec2.EC2, id string) resource.StateRefreshFunc {
 	return func() (interface{}, string, error) {
-		resp, err := client.DescribeImages(&ec2.DescribeImagesInput{ImageIds: []*string{aws.String(id)}})
+		emptyResp := &ec2.DescribeImagesOutput{}
 
+		resp, err := client.DescribeImages(&ec2.DescribeImagesInput{ImageIds: []*string{aws.String(id)}})
 		if err != nil {
 			if ec2err, ok := err.(awserr.Error); ok && ec2err.Code() == "InvalidAMIID.NotFound" {
-				return nil, "destroyed", nil
+				return emptyResp, "destroyed", nil
 			} else if resp != nil && len(resp.Images) == 0 {
-				return nil, "destroyed", nil
+				return emptyResp, "destroyed", nil
 			} else {
-				return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("Error on refresh: %+v", err)
+				return emptyResp, "", fmt.Errorf("Error on refresh: %+v", err)
 			}
 		}
 
 		if resp == nil || resp.Images == nil || len(resp.Images) == 0 {
-			return nil, "destroyed", nil
+			return emptyResp, "destroyed", nil
 		}
 
 		// AMI is valid, so return it's state
@@ -327,9 +329,9 @@ func resourceAwsAmiWaitForDestroy(id string, client *ec2.EC2) error {
 		Pending:    []string{"available", "pending", "failed"},
 		Target:     []string{"destroyed"},
 		Refresh:    AMIStateRefreshFunc(client, id),
-		Timeout:    10 * time.Minute,
-		Delay:      10 * time.Second,
-		MinTimeout: 3 * time.Second,
+		Timeout:    AWSAMIRetryTimeout,
+		Delay:      AWSAMIRetryDelay,
+		MinTimeout: AWSAMIRetryTimeout,
 	}
 
 	_, err := stateConf.WaitForState()
@@ -338,85 +340,25 @@ func resourceAwsAmiWaitForDestroy(id string, client *ec2.EC2) error {
 	}
 
 	return nil
-
-	/*req := &ec2.DescribeImagesInput{
-		ImageIds: []*string{aws.String(id)},
-	}
-
-	polls := 0
-	for {
-		resp, err := client.DescribeImages(req)
-		if err != nil {
-			if ec2err, ok := err.(awserr.Error); ok && ec2err.Code() == "InvalidAMIID.NotFound" {
-				// AMI was successfully deleted, exit
-				return nil
-			}
-			// Unknown error hit fetching AMI
-			return err
-		}
-
-		if len(resp.Images) == 0 {
-			return nil
-		}
-
-		// Entry retry loop
-		polls++
-		if polls > AWSAMIRetryCount {
-			return errors.New("Timeoout reached waiting for AMI to be deleted")
-		}
-		time.Sleep(AWSAMISleepDuration)
-		continue
-	}*/
 }
 
 func resourceAwsAmiWaitForAvailable(id string, client *ec2.EC2) (*ec2.Image, error) {
 	log.Printf("Waiting for AMI %s to become available...", id)
 
-	req := &ec2.DescribeImagesInput{
-		ImageIds: []*string{aws.String(id)},
+	stateConf := &resource.StateChangeConf{
+		Pending:    []string{"pending"},
+		Target:     []string{"available"},
+		Refresh:    AMIStateRefreshFunc(client, id),
+		Timeout:    AWSAMIRetryTimeout,
+		Delay:      AWSAMIRetryDelay,
+		MinTimeout: AWSAMIRetryMinTimeout,
 	}
-	pollsWhereNotFound := 0
-	for {
-		res, err := client.DescribeImages(req)
-		if err != nil {
-			// When using RegisterImage (for aws_ami) the AMI sometimes isn't available at all
-			// right after the API responds, so we need to tolerate a couple Not Found errors
-			// before an available AMI shows up.
-			if ec2err, ok := err.(awserr.Error); ok && ec2err.Code() == "InvalidAMIID.NotFound" {
-				pollsWhereNotFound++
-				// We arbitrarily stop polling after getting a "not found" error five times,
-				// assuming that the AMI has been deleted by something other than Terraform.
-				if pollsWhereNotFound > AWSAMIRetryCount {
-					return nil, fmt.Errorf("gave up waiting for AMI to be created: %s", err)
-				}
-				time.Sleep(AWSAMISleepDuration)
-				continue
-			}
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading AMI: %s", err)
-		}
 
-		if len(res.Images) != 1 {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("new AMI vanished while pending")
-		}
-
-		state := *res.Images[0].State
-
-		if state == "pending" {
-			// Give it a few seconds before we poll again.
-			time.Sleep(AWSAMISleepDuration)
-			continue
-		}
-
-		if state == "available" {
-			// We're done!
-			return res.Images[0], nil
-		}
-
-		// If we're not pending or available then we're in one of the invalid/error
-		// states, so stop polling and bail out.
-		stateReason := *res.Images[0].StateReason
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("new AMI became %s while pending: %s", state, stateReason)
+	info, err := stateConf.WaitForState()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error waiting for AMI (%s) to be ready: %v", id, err)
 	}
+	return info.(*ec2.Image), nil
 }
 
 func resourceAwsAmiCommonSchema(computed bool) map[string]*schema.Schema {