diff --git a/builtin/logical/aws/client.go b/builtin/logical/aws/client.go
index 4ec18f806a..75059b0acb 100644
--- a/builtin/logical/aws/client.go
+++ b/builtin/logical/aws/client.go
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ func getRootConfig(s logical.Storage) (*aws.Config, error) {
 		credConfig.Region = config.Region
 	}
 
+	if credConfig.Region == "" {
+		credConfig.Region = "us-east-1"
+	}
+
 	creds, err := awsutil.GenerateCredentialChain(credConfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/helper/awsutil/generate_providers.go b/helper/awsutil/generate_providers.go
index 37c9051009..3e1d13a521 100644
--- a/helper/awsutil/generate_providers.go
+++ b/helper/awsutil/generate_providers.go
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ func GenerateCredentialChain(config *AWSCredentialsConfig) (*credentials.Credent
 	if config == nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("nil configuration provided")
 	}
+	if config.Region == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("region must be provided in credentials configuration")
+	}
 
 	var providers []credentials.Provider