diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resources.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resources.go
index d5530e1ac..4881409df 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resources.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resources.go
@@ -34,19 +34,39 @@ func resource_aws_instance_create(
 		InstanceType: d.Attributes["instance_type"].New,
 	}
 
-	log.Printf("Run configuration: %#v", runOpts)
+	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Run configuration: %#v", runOpts)
 	runResp, err := ec2conn.RunInstances(runOpts)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error launching source instance: %s", err)
 	}
 
 	instance := &runResp.Instances[0]
-	log.Printf("Instance ID: %s", instance.InstanceId)
+	log.Printf("[INFO] Instance ID: %s", instance.InstanceId)
 
-	// TODO(mitchellh): wait until running
-
-	rs := s.MergeDiff(d)
+	// Store the resource state now so that we can return it in the case
+	// of any errors.
+	rs := new(terraform.ResourceState)
 	rs.ID = instance.InstanceId
+
+	// Wait for the instance to become running so we can get some attributes
+	// that aren't available until later.
+	log.Printf(
+		"[DEBUG] Waiting for instance (%s) to become running",
+		instance.InstanceId)
+	instanceRaw, err := WaitForState(&StateChangeConf{
+		Pending: []string{"pending"},
+		Target:  "running",
+		Refresh: InstanceStateRefreshFunc(ec2conn, instance),
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return rs, fmt.Errorf(
+			"Error waiting for instance (%s) to become ready: %s",
+			instance.InstanceId, err)
+	}
+	instance = instanceRaw.(*ec2.Instance)
+
+	// Set our attributes
+	rs = rs.MergeDiff(d)
 	rs.Attributes["public_dns"] = instance.DNSName
 	rs.Attributes["public_ip"] = instance.PublicIpAddress
 	rs.Attributes["private_dns"] = instance.PrivateDNSName
diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/state.go b/builtin/providers/aws/state.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7b0363d8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/state.go
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+package aws
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/mitchellh/goamz/ec2"
+)
+
+// StateRefreshFunc is a function type used for StateChangeConf that is
+// responsible for refreshing the item being watched for a state change.
+//
+// It returns three results. `result` is any object that will be returned
+// as the final object after waiting for state change. This allows you to
+// return the final updated object, for example an EC2 instance after refreshing
+// it.
+//
+// `state` is the latest state of that object. And `err` is any error that
+// may have happened while refreshing the state.
+type StateRefreshFunc func() (result interface{}, state string, err error)
+
+// StateChangeConf is the configuration struct used for `WaitForState`.
+type StateChangeConf struct {
+	Pending []string
+	Refresh StateRefreshFunc
+	Target  string
+}
+
+// InstanceStateRefreshFunc returns a StateRefreshFunc that is used to watch
+// an EC2 instance.
+func InstanceStateRefreshFunc(conn *ec2.EC2, i *ec2.Instance) StateRefreshFunc {
+	return func() (interface{}, string, error) {
+		resp, err := conn.Instances([]string{i.InstanceId}, ec2.NewFilter())
+		if err != nil {
+			if ec2err, ok := err.(*ec2.Error); ok && ec2err.Code == "InvalidInstanceID.NotFound" {
+				// Set this to nil as if we didn't find anything.
+				resp = nil
+			} else {
+				log.Printf("Error on InstanceStateRefresh: %s", err)
+				return nil, "", err
+			}
+		}
+
+		if resp == nil || len(resp.Reservations) == 0 || len(resp.Reservations[0].Instances) == 0 {
+			// Sometimes AWS just has consistency issues and doesn't see
+			// our instance yet. Return an empty state.
+			return nil, "", nil
+		}
+
+		i = &resp.Reservations[0].Instances[0]
+		return i, i.State.Name, nil
+	}
+}
+
+// WaitForState watches an object and waits for it to achieve a certain
+// state.
+func WaitForState(conf *StateChangeConf) (i interface{}, err error) {
+	log.Printf("Waiting for state to become: %s", conf.Target)
+
+	notfoundTick := 0
+
+	for {
+		var currentState string
+		i, currentState, err = conf.Refresh()
+		if err != nil {
+			return
+		}
+
+		if i == nil {
+			// If we didn't find the resource, check if we have been
+			// not finding it for awhile, and if so, report an error.
+			notfoundTick += 1
+			if notfoundTick > 20 {
+				return nil, errors.New("couldn't find resource")
+			}
+		} else {
+			// Reset the counter for when a resource isn't found
+			notfoundTick = 0
+
+			if currentState == conf.Target {
+				return
+			}
+
+			found := false
+			for _, allowed := range conf.Pending {
+				if currentState == allowed {
+					found = true
+					break
+				}
+			}
+
+			if !found {
+				fmt.Errorf("unexpected state '%s', wanted target '%s'", currentState, conf.Target)
+				return
+			}
+		}
+
+		time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
+	}
+
+	return
+}