diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_iam_policy_attachment.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_iam_policy_attachment.go
index cf639b98c..adbd81b20 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_iam_policy_attachment.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_iam_policy_attachment.go
@@ -25,6 +25,13 @@ func resourceAwsIamPolicyAttachment() *schema.Resource {
 				Type:     schema.TypeString,
 				Required: true,
 				ForceNew: true,
+				ValidateFunc: func(v interface{}, k string) (ws []string, errors []error) {
+					if v.(string) == "" {
+						errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf(
+							"%q cannot be an empty string", k))
+					}
+					return
+				},
 			},
 			"users": &schema.Schema{
 				Type:     schema.TypeSet,
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/iam_policy_attachment.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/iam_policy_attachment.html.markdown
index a34fe242a..791311226 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/iam_policy_attachment.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/iam_policy_attachment.html.markdown
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ resource "aws_iam_policy_attachment" "test-attach" {
 
 The following arguments are supported:
 
-* `name` 		(Required) - The name of the policy.
+* `name` 		(Required) - The name of the policy. This cannot be an empty string.
 * `users`		(Optional) - The user(s) the policy should be applied to
 * `roles`		(Optional) - The role(s) the policy should be applied to
 * `groups`		(Optional) - The group(s) the policy should be applied to