diff --git a/builder/digitalocean/config.go b/builder/digitalocean/config.go
index 057138633..dd1460583 100644
--- a/builder/digitalocean/config.go
+++ b/builder/digitalocean/config.go
@@ -64,8 +64,13 @@ func NewConfig(raws ...interface{}) (*Config, []string, error) {
 	}
 
 	if c.SnapshotName == "" {
+		def, err := interpolate.Render("packer-{{timestamp}}", nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
+
 		// Default to packer-{{ unix timestamp (utc) }}
-		c.SnapshotName = "packer-{{timestamp}}"
+		c.SnapshotName = def
 	}
 
 	if c.DropletName == "" {
diff --git a/builder/digitalocean/step_power_off.go b/builder/digitalocean/step_power_off.go
index 3d547e8c2..94891e227 100644
--- a/builder/digitalocean/step_power_off.go
+++ b/builder/digitalocean/step_power_off.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package digitalocean
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/digitalocean/godo"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
@@ -48,6 +49,15 @@ func (s *stepPowerOff) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 		return multistep.ActionHalt
 	}
 
+	// Wait for the droplet to become unlocked for future steps
+	if err := waitForDropletUnlocked(client, dropletId, 2*time.Minute); err != nil {
+		// If we get an error the first time, actually report it
+		err := fmt.Errorf("Error powering off droplet: %s", err)
+		state.Put("error", err)
+		ui.Error(err.Error())
+		return multistep.ActionHalt
+	}
+
 	return multistep.ActionContinue
 }
 
diff --git a/builder/digitalocean/step_shutdown.go b/builder/digitalocean/step_shutdown.go
index 602f3e690..da04aee33 100644
--- a/builder/digitalocean/step_shutdown.go
+++ b/builder/digitalocean/step_shutdown.go
@@ -65,7 +65,19 @@ func (s *stepShutdown) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 
 	err = waitForDropletState("off", dropletId, client, 2*time.Minute)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Printf("Error waiting for graceful off: %s", err)
+		// If we get an error the first time, actually report it
+		err := fmt.Errorf("Error shutting down droplet: %s", err)
+		state.Put("error", err)
+		ui.Error(err.Error())
+		return multistep.ActionHalt
+	}
+
+	if err := waitForDropletUnlocked(client, dropletId, 2*time.Minute); err != nil {
+		// If we get an error the first time, actually report it
+		err := fmt.Errorf("Error shutting down droplet: %s", err)
+		state.Put("error", err)
+		ui.Error(err.Error())
+		return multistep.ActionHalt
 	}
 
 	return multistep.ActionContinue
diff --git a/builder/digitalocean/step_snapshot.go b/builder/digitalocean/step_snapshot.go
index cfda7af20..f6902b8c5 100644
--- a/builder/digitalocean/step_snapshot.go
+++ b/builder/digitalocean/step_snapshot.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/digitalocean/godo"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
@@ -27,6 +28,18 @@ func (s *stepSnapshot) Run(state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 		return multistep.ActionHalt
 	}
 
+	// Wait for the droplet to become unlocked first. For snapshots
+	// this can end up taking quite a long time, so we hardcode this to
+	// 10 minutes.
+	if err := waitForDropletUnlocked(client, dropletId, 10*time.Minute); err != nil {
+		// If we get an error the first time, actually report it
+		err := fmt.Errorf("Error shutting down droplet: %s", err)
+		state.Put("error", err)
+		ui.Error(err.Error())
+		return multistep.ActionHalt
+	}
+
+	// With the pending state over, verify that we're in the active state
 	ui.Say("Waiting for snapshot to complete...")
 	err = waitForDropletState("active", dropletId, client, c.stateTimeout)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/builder/digitalocean/wait.go b/builder/digitalocean/wait.go
index 3d299d433..a41bbb3ed 100644
--- a/builder/digitalocean/wait.go
+++ b/builder/digitalocean/wait.go
@@ -8,6 +8,55 @@ import (
 	"github.com/digitalocean/godo"
 )
 
+// waitForDropletUnlocked waits for the Droplet to be unlocked to
+// avoid "pending" errors when making state changes.
+func waitForDropletUnlocked(
+	client *godo.Client, dropletId int, timeout time.Duration) error {
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	defer close(done)
+
+	result := make(chan error, 1)
+	go func() {
+		attempts := 0
+		for {
+			attempts += 1
+
+			log.Printf("[DEBUG] Checking droplet lock state... (attempt: %d)", attempts)
+			droplet, _, err := client.Droplets.Get(dropletId)
+			if err != nil {
+				result <- err
+				return
+			}
+
+			if !droplet.Locked {
+				result <- nil
+				return
+			}
+
+			// Wait 3 seconds in between
+			time.Sleep(3 * time.Second)
+
+			// Verify we shouldn't exit
+			select {
+			case <-done:
+				// We finished, so just exit the goroutine
+				return
+			default:
+				// Keep going
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+
+	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Waiting for up to %d seconds for droplet to unlock", timeout/time.Second)
+	select {
+	case err := <-result:
+		return err
+	case <-time.After(timeout):
+		return fmt.Errorf(
+			"Timeout while waiting to for droplet to unlock")
+	}
+}
+
 // waitForState simply blocks until the droplet is in
 // a state we expect, while eventually timing out.
 func waitForDropletState(