diff --git a/aws/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/options/BlockDeviceMapping.java b/aws/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/options/BlockDeviceMapping.java
deleted file mode 100644
index b6fa5ec0a7..0000000000
--- a/aws/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/options/BlockDeviceMapping.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,158 +0,0 @@
-package org.jclouds.aws.ec2.options;
-
-import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkArgument;
-import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
-
-import javax.annotation.Nullable;
-
-import org.jclouds.util.Preconditions2;
-
-public class BlockDeviceMapping
-{
-    private final String deviceName;
-    private final String virtualName;
-    private final String snapshotId;
-    private final Integer sizeInGib;
-    private final Boolean noDevice;
-    private final Boolean deleteOnTermination;
-
-    // values expressed in GB
-    private static final Integer VOLUME_SIZE_MIN_VALUE = 1;
-    private static final Integer VOLUME_SIZE_MAX_VALUE = 1000;
-
-    public BlockDeviceMapping(String deviceName, @Nullable String virtualName,
-            @Nullable String snapshotId, @Nullable Integer sizeInGib,
-            @Nullable Boolean noDevice, @Nullable Boolean deleteOnTermination)
-    {
-
-        checkNotNull(deviceName, "deviceName cannot be null");
-        Preconditions2.checkNotEmpty(deviceName,
-                "the deviceName must be non-empty");
-
-        if (sizeInGib != null)
-        {
-            checkArgument(
-                    (sizeInGib >= VOLUME_SIZE_MIN_VALUE && sizeInGib <= VOLUME_SIZE_MAX_VALUE),
-                    String.format("Size in Gib must be between %s and %s GB",
-                            VOLUME_SIZE_MIN_VALUE, VOLUME_SIZE_MAX_VALUE));
-        }
-        this.deviceName = deviceName;
-        this.virtualName = virtualName;
-        this.snapshotId = snapshotId;
-        this.sizeInGib = sizeInGib;
-        this.noDevice = noDevice;
-        this.deleteOnTermination = deleteOnTermination;
-    }
-
-    public String getDeviceName()
-    {
-        return deviceName;
-    }
-
-    public String getVirtualName()
-    {
-        return virtualName;
-    }
-
-    public String getEbsSnapshotId()
-    {
-        return snapshotId;
-    }
-
-    public Integer getEbsVolumeSize()
-    {
-        return sizeInGib;
-    }
-
-    public Boolean getEbsNoDevice()
-    {
-        return noDevice;
-    }
-
-    public Boolean getEbsDeleteOnTermination()
-    {
-        return deleteOnTermination;
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public int hashCode()
-    {
-        final int prime = 31;
-        int result = 1;
-        result = prime * result
-                + ((deviceName == null) ? 0 : deviceName.hashCode());
-        return result;
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public boolean equals(Object obj)
-    {
-        if (this == obj)
-            return true;
-        if (obj == null)
-            return false;
-        if (getClass() != obj.getClass())
-            return false;
-        BlockDeviceMapping other = (BlockDeviceMapping) obj;
-        if (deviceName == null)
-        {
-            if (other.deviceName != null)
-                return false;
-        }
-        else if (!deviceName.equals(other.deviceName))
-            return false;
-        return true;
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public String toString()
-    {
-        return "BlockDeviceMapping [deviceName=" + deviceName
-                + ", virtualName=" + virtualName + ", snapshotId=" + snapshotId
-                + ", sizeInGib=" + sizeInGib + ", noDevice=" + noDevice
-                + ", deleteOnTermination=" + deleteOnTermination + "]";
-    }
-
-    public static class MapEBSSnapshotToDevice extends BlockDeviceMapping
-    {
-        public MapEBSSnapshotToDevice(String deviceName, String snapshotId,
-                @Nullable Integer sizeInGib,
-                @Nullable Boolean deleteOnTermination)
-        {
-            super(deviceName, null, snapshotId, sizeInGib, null,
-                    deleteOnTermination);
-            checkNotNull(snapshotId, "snapshotId cannot be null");
-            Preconditions2.checkNotEmpty(snapshotId,
-                    "the snapshotId must be non-empty");
-        }
-    }
-
-    public static class MapNewVolumeToDevice extends BlockDeviceMapping
-    {
-        public MapNewVolumeToDevice(String deviceName, Integer sizeInGib,
-                @Nullable Boolean deleteOnTermination)
-        {
-            super(deviceName, null, null, sizeInGib, null, deleteOnTermination);
-            checkNotNull(sizeInGib, "sizeInGib cannot be null");
-        }
-    }
-
-    public static class MapEphemeralDeviceToDevice extends BlockDeviceMapping
-    {
-        public MapEphemeralDeviceToDevice(String deviceName, String virtualName)
-        {
-            super(deviceName, virtualName, null, null, null, null);
-            checkNotNull(virtualName, "virtualName cannot be null");
-            Preconditions2.checkNotEmpty(virtualName,
-                    "the virtualName must be non-empty");
-        }
-    }
-
-    public static class UnmapDeviceNamed extends BlockDeviceMapping
-    {
-        public UnmapDeviceNamed(String deviceName)
-        {
-            super(deviceName, null, null, null, true, null);
-        }
-    }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/compute/src/main/java/org/jclouds/compute/internal/BaseComputeService.java b/compute/src/main/java/org/jclouds/compute/internal/BaseComputeService.java
index eea930bddd..7423fd99df 100755
--- a/compute/src/main/java/org/jclouds/compute/internal/BaseComputeService.java
+++ b/compute/src/main/java/org/jclouds/compute/internal/BaseComputeService.java
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ public class BaseComputeService implements ComputeService {
    @Override
    public Set<? extends NodeMetadata> runNodesWithTag(String tag, int count, Template template)
             throws RunNodesException {
-      checkArgument(tag.indexOf('-') == -1, "tag cannot contain hyphens");
+      checkNotNull(tag, "tag cannot be null");
       checkNotNull(template.getLocation(), "location");
       logger.debug(">> running %d node%s tag(%s) location(%s) image(%s) hardwareProfile(%s) options(%s)", count,
                count > 1 ? "s" : "", tag, template.getLocation().getId(), template.getImage().getId(), template
diff --git a/compute/src/test/java/org/jclouds/compute/BaseComputeServiceLiveTest.java b/compute/src/test/java/org/jclouds/compute/BaseComputeServiceLiveTest.java
index ef3f76711b..6edac25d5f 100755
--- a/compute/src/test/java/org/jclouds/compute/BaseComputeServiceLiveTest.java
+++ b/compute/src/test/java/org/jclouds/compute/BaseComputeServiceLiveTest.java
@@ -132,6 +132,8 @@ public abstract class BaseComputeServiceLiveTest {
       setServiceDefaults();
       if (tag == null)
          tag = checkNotNull(provider, "provider");
+      if (tag.indexOf('-') == -1)
+         tag = tag + "-";
       setupCredentials();
       setupKeyPairForTest();
       initializeContextAndClient();