diff --git a/builder/amazon/common/run_config.go b/builder/amazon/common/run_config.go
index 52289ba50..60124db16 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/common/run_config.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/common/run_config.go
@@ -69,6 +69,10 @@ func (c *RunConfig) Prepare(ctx *interpolate.Context) []error {
 		c.WindowsPasswordTimeout = 10 * time.Minute
 	}
 
+	if c.RunTags == nil {
+		c.RunTags = make(map[string]string)
+	}
+
 	// Validation
 	errs := c.Comm.Prepare(ctx)
 	if c.SourceAmi == "" && c.SourceAmiFilter.Empty() {
diff --git a/builder/amazon/common/step_create_tags.go b/builder/amazon/common/step_create_tags.go
index 87ce08840..4de8e50c3 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/common/step_create_tags.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/common/step_create_tags.go
@@ -31,9 +31,9 @@ func (s *StepCreateTags) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 		ui.Say(fmt.Sprintf("Adding tags to AMI (%s)...", ami))
 
 		// Convert tags to ec2.Tag format
-		amiTags := ConvertToEC2Tags(s.Tags, ui)
+		amiTags := ConvertToEC2Tags(s.Tags)
 		ui.Say(fmt.Sprintf("Snapshot tags:"))
-		snapshotTags := ConvertToEC2Tags(s.SnapshotTags, ui)
+		snapshotTags := ConvertToEC2Tags(s.SnapshotTags)
 
 		// Declare list of resources to tag
 		awsConfig := aws.Config{
@@ -128,10 +128,9 @@ func (s *StepCreateTags) Cleanup(state multistep.StateBag) {
 	// No cleanup...
 }
 
-func ConvertToEC2Tags(tags map[string]string, ui packer.Ui) []*ec2.Tag {
+func ConvertToEC2Tags(tags map[string]string) []*ec2.Tag {
 	var amiTags []*ec2.Tag
 	for key, value := range tags {
-		ui.Message(fmt.Sprintf("Adding tag: \"%s\": \"%s\"", key, value))
 		amiTags = append(amiTags, &ec2.Tag{
 			Key:   aws.String(key),
 			Value: aws.String(value),
diff --git a/builder/amazon/common/step_run_source_instance.go b/builder/amazon/common/step_run_source_instance.go
index e436e5aff..649ddfdec 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/common/step_run_source_instance.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/common/step_run_source_instance.go
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ func (s *StepRunSourceInstance) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepActi
 	if _, exists := s.Tags["Name"]; !exists {
 		s.Tags["Name"] = "Packer Builder"
 	}
-	ec2Tags := ConvertToEC2Tags(s.Tags, ui)
+	ec2Tags := ConvertToEC2Tags(s.Tags)
 
 	_, err = ec2conn.CreateTags(&ec2.CreateTagsInput{
 		Tags:      ec2Tags,
diff --git a/builder/amazon/ebs/step_tag_ebs_volumes.go b/builder/amazon/ebs/step_tag_ebs_volumes.go
index a9ead9ebe..6db6c3bb6 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/ebs/step_tag_ebs_volumes.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/ebs/step_tag_ebs_volumes.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ func (s *stepTagEBSVolumes) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 	}
 
 	ui.Say(fmt.Sprintf("Adding tags to source EBS Volumes:"))
-	tags := common.ConvertToEC2Tags(s.VolumeRunTags, ui)
+	tags := common.ConvertToEC2Tags(s.VolumeRunTags)
 
 	_, err := ec2conn.CreateTags(&ec2.CreateTagsInput{
 		Resources: []*string{