diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_lambda_function.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_lambda_function.go
index 5f8a81684..f556fa226 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_lambda_function.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_lambda_function.go
@@ -174,24 +174,30 @@ func resourceAwsLambdaFunctionCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) e
 
 	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Creating Lambda Function %s with role %s", functionName, iamRole)
 
+	filename, hasFilename := d.GetOk("filename")
+	s3Bucket, bucketOk := d.GetOk("s3_bucket")
+	s3Key, keyOk := d.GetOk("s3_key")
+	s3ObjectVersion, versionOk := d.GetOk("s3_object_version")
+
+	if !hasFilename && !bucketOk && !keyOk && !versionOk {
+		return errors.New("filename or s3_* attributes must be set")
+	}
+
 	var functionCode *lambda.FunctionCode
-	if v, ok := d.GetOk("filename"); ok {
+	if hasFilename {
 		// Grab an exclusive lock so that we're only reading one function into
 		// memory at a time.
 		// See https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/issues/9364
 		awsMutexKV.Lock(awsMutexLambdaKey)
 		defer awsMutexKV.Unlock(awsMutexLambdaKey)
-		file, err := loadFileContent(v.(string))
+		file, err := loadFileContent(filename.(string))
 		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("Unable to load %q: %s", v.(string), err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("Unable to load %q: %s", filename.(string), err)
 		}
 		functionCode = &lambda.FunctionCode{
 			ZipFile: file,
 		}
 	} else {
-		s3Bucket, bucketOk := d.GetOk("s3_bucket")
-		s3Key, keyOk := d.GetOk("s3_key")
-		s3ObjectVersion, versionOk := d.GetOk("s3_object_version")
 		if !bucketOk || !keyOk {
 			return errors.New("s3_bucket and s3_key must all be set while using S3 code source")
 		}
diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_lambda_function_test.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_lambda_function_test.go
index 06c7a64db..c50a7a60b 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_lambda_function_test.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_lambda_function_test.go
@@ -39,6 +39,22 @@ func TestAccAWSLambdaFunction_basic(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestAccAWSLambdaFunction_expectFilenameAndS3Attributes(t *testing.T) {
+	rName := fmt.Sprintf("tf_test_%s", acctest.RandString(5))
+
+	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
+		PreCheck:     func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
+		Providers:    testAccProviders,
+		CheckDestroy: testAccCheckLambdaFunctionDestroy,
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			{
+				Config:      testAccAWSLambdaConfigWithoutFilenameAndS3Attributes(rName),
+				ExpectError: regexp.MustCompile(`filename or s3_\* attributes must be set`),
+			},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func TestAccAWSLambdaFunction_envVariables(t *testing.T) {
 	var conf lambda.GetFunctionOutput
 
@@ -625,6 +641,16 @@ resource "aws_lambda_function" "lambda_function_test" {
 `, rName)
 }
 
+func testAccAWSLambdaConfigWithoutFilenameAndS3Attributes(rName string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf(baseAccAWSLambdaConfig+`
+resource "aws_lambda_function" "lambda_function_test" {
+    function_name = "%s"
+    role = "${aws_iam_role.iam_for_lambda.arn}"
+    handler = "exports.example"
+}
+`, rName)
+}
+
 func testAccAWSLambdaConfigEnvVariables(rName string) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf(baseAccAWSLambdaConfig+`
 resource "aws_lambda_function" "lambda_function_test" {