diff --git a/builder/amazon/chroot/builder.go b/builder/amazon/chroot/builder.go
index a259960d1..b6b5088a2 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/chroot/builder.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/chroot/builder.go
@@ -121,7 +121,8 @@ func (b *Builder) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) ([]string, error) {
 	var warns []string
 
 	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.AccessConfig.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
-	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.AMIConfig.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
+	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
+		b.config.AMIConfig.Prepare(&b.config.AccessConfig, &b.config.ctx)...)
 
 	for _, mounts := range b.config.ChrootMounts {
 		if len(mounts) != 3 {
diff --git a/builder/amazon/common/access_config.go b/builder/amazon/common/access_config.go
index aa974f29c..59ef90c2b 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/common/access_config.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/common/access_config.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func (c *AccessConfig) Session() (*session.Session, error) {
 		return c.session, nil
 	}
 
-	region, err := c.Region()
+	region, err := c.region()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func (c *AccessConfig) Session() (*session.Session, error) {
 
 // Region returns the aws.Region object for access to AWS services, requesting
 // the region from the instance metadata if possible.
-func (c *AccessConfig) Region() (string, error) {
+func (c *AccessConfig) region() (string, error) {
 	if c.RawRegion != "" {
 		if !c.SkipValidation {
 			if valid := ValidateRegion(c.RawRegion); !valid {
diff --git a/builder/amazon/common/ami_config.go b/builder/amazon/common/ami_config.go
index f59cb1d61..09b25479a 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/common/ami_config.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/common/ami_config.go
@@ -38,12 +38,23 @@ func stringInSlice(s []string, searchstr string) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
-func (c *AMIConfig) Prepare(ctx *interpolate.Context) []error {
+func (c *AMIConfig) Prepare(accessConfig *AccessConfig, ctx *interpolate.Context) []error {
 	var errs []error
+
+	session, err := accessConfig.Session()
+	if err != nil {
+		errs = append(errs, err)
+	}
+	region := *session.Config.Region
+
 	if c.AMIName == "" {
 		errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("ami_name must be specified"))
 	}
 
+	if stringInSlice(c.AMIRegions, region) {
+		errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("Cannot copy AMI to AWS session region '%s', please remove it from `ami_regions`.", region))
+	}
+
 	if len(c.AMIRegions) > 0 {
 		regionSet := make(map[string]struct{})
 		regions := make([]string, 0, len(c.AMIRegions))
@@ -61,7 +72,6 @@ func (c *AMIConfig) Prepare(ctx *interpolate.Context) []error {
 				// Verify the region is real
 				if valid := ValidateRegion(region); !valid {
 					errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("Unknown region: %s", region))
-					continue
 				}
 			}
 
diff --git a/builder/amazon/common/step_deregister_ami.go b/builder/amazon/common/step_deregister_ami.go
index da0bc0cc4..188a40808 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/common/step_deregister_ami.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/common/step_deregister_ami.go
@@ -25,10 +25,8 @@ func (s *StepDeregisterAMI) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 
 	ui := state.Get("ui").(packer.Ui)
 	ec2conn := state.Get("ec2").(*ec2.EC2)
-	regions := s.Regions
-	if len(regions) == 0 {
-		regions = append(regions, *ec2conn.Config.Region)
-	}
+	// Add the session region to list of regions will will deregister AMIs in
+	regions := append(s.Regions, *ec2conn.Config.Region)
 
 	for _, region := range regions {
 		// get new connection for each region in which we need to deregister vms
diff --git a/builder/amazon/ebs/builder.go b/builder/amazon/ebs/builder.go
index beaa4a276..e28343c66 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/ebs/builder.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/ebs/builder.go
@@ -64,8 +64,9 @@ func (b *Builder) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) ([]string, error) {
 	// Accumulate any errors
 	var errs *packer.MultiError
 	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.AccessConfig.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
+	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
+		b.config.AMIConfig.Prepare(&b.config.AccessConfig, &b.config.ctx)...)
 	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.BlockDevices.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
-	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.AMIConfig.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
 	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.RunConfig.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
 
 	if errs != nil && len(errs.Errors) > 0 {
diff --git a/builder/amazon/ebssurrogate/builder.go b/builder/amazon/ebssurrogate/builder.go
index f61b2d43e..71fdb2c9d 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/ebssurrogate/builder.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/ebssurrogate/builder.go
@@ -64,7 +64,8 @@ func (b *Builder) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) ([]string, error) {
 	var errs *packer.MultiError
 	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.AccessConfig.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
 	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.RunConfig.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
-	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.AMIConfig.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
+	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
+		b.config.AMIConfig.Prepare(&b.config.AccessConfig, &b.config.ctx)...)
 	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.BlockDevices.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
 	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.RootDevice.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
 
diff --git a/builder/amazon/instance/builder.go b/builder/amazon/instance/builder.go
index ebc93751e..9500867ef 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/instance/builder.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/instance/builder.go
@@ -127,7 +127,8 @@ func (b *Builder) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) ([]string, error) {
 	var errs *packer.MultiError
 	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.AccessConfig.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
 	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.BlockDevices.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
-	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.AMIConfig.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
+	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
+		b.config.AMIConfig.Prepare(&b.config.AccessConfig, &b.config.ctx)...)
 	errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, b.config.RunConfig.Prepare(&b.config.ctx)...)
 
 	if b.config.AccountId == "" {
diff --git a/builder/amazon/instance/step_upload_bundle.go b/builder/amazon/instance/step_upload_bundle.go
index 91abfc9b6..a38a77c93 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/instance/step_upload_bundle.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/instance/step_upload_bundle.go
@@ -29,17 +29,10 @@ func (s *StepUploadBundle) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 	manifestPath := state.Get("manifest_path").(string)
 	ui := state.Get("ui").(packer.Ui)
 
-	region, err := config.Region()
-	if err != nil {
-		err := fmt.Errorf("Error retrieving region: %s", err)
-		state.Put("error", err)
-		ui.Error(err.Error())
-		return multistep.ActionHalt
-	}
-
 	accessKey := config.AccessKey
 	secretKey := config.SecretKey
 	session, err := config.AccessConfig.Session()
+	region := *session.Config.Region
 	accessConfig := session.Config
 	var token string
 	if err == nil && accessKey == "" && secretKey == "" {