diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_launch_configuration.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_launch_configuration.go
index 2fff7294e..6ab3378c8 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_launch_configuration.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_launch_configuration.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"log"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/flatmap"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/config"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/diff"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/goamz/autoscaling"
@@ -188,3 +189,17 @@ func resource_aws_launch_configuration_retrieve(id string, autoscalingconn *auto
 
 	return &l, nil
 }
+
+func resource_aws_launch_configuration_validation() *config.Validator {
+	return &config.Validator{
+		Required: []string{
+			"name",
+			"image_id",
+			"instance_type",
+		},
+		Optional: []string{
+			"key_name",
+			"security_groups.*",
+		},
+	}
+}
diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resources.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resources.go
index 66f613a3d..55f21f679 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resources.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resources.go
@@ -54,10 +54,11 @@ func init() {
 			},
 
 			"aws_launch_configuration": resource.Resource{
-				Create:  resource_aws_launch_configuration_create,
-				Destroy: resource_aws_launch_configuration_destroy,
-				Diff:    resource_aws_launch_configuration_diff,
-				Refresh: resource_aws_launch_configuration_refresh,
+				ConfigValidator: resource_aws_launch_configuration_validation(),
+				Create:          resource_aws_launch_configuration_create,
+				Destroy:         resource_aws_launch_configuration_destroy,
+				Diff:            resource_aws_launch_configuration_diff,
+				Refresh:         resource_aws_launch_configuration_refresh,
 			},
 
 			"aws_route_table": resource.Resource{