diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/import_aws_route53_zone_test.go b/builtin/providers/aws/import_aws_route53_zone_test.go
index f2ad82f3f..cc4b0afef 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/import_aws_route53_zone_test.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/import_aws_route53_zone_test.go
@@ -19,9 +19,10 @@ func TestAccAWSRoute53Zone_importBasic(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 
 			resource.TestStep{
-				ResourceName:      resourceName,
-				ImportState:       true,
-				ImportStateVerify: true,
+				ResourceName:            resourceName,
+				ImportState:             true,
+				ImportStateVerify:       true,
+				ImportStateVerifyIgnore: []string{"force_destroy"},
 			},
 		},
 	})
diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_route53_zone.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_route53_zone.go
index 0702b8903..c97e9a4b3 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_route53_zone.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_route53_zone.go
@@ -71,6 +71,12 @@ func resourceAwsRoute53Zone() *schema.Resource {
 			},
 
 			"tags": tagsSchema(),
+
+			"force_destroy": &schema.Schema{
+				Type:     schema.TypeBool,
+				Optional: true,
+				Default:  false,
+			},
 		},
 	}
 }
@@ -258,6 +264,10 @@ func resourceAwsRoute53ZoneUpdate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) erro
 func resourceAwsRoute53ZoneDelete(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error {
 	r53 := meta.(*AWSClient).r53conn
 
+	if d.Get("force_destroy").(bool) {
+		deleteAllRecordsInHostedZoneId(d.Id(), d.Get("name").(string), r53)
+	}
+
 	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Deleting Route53 hosted zone: %s (ID: %s)",
 		d.Get("name").(string), d.Id())
 	_, err := r53.DeleteHostedZone(&route53.DeleteHostedZoneInput{Id: aws.String(d.Id())})
@@ -273,6 +283,59 @@ func resourceAwsRoute53ZoneDelete(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) erro
 	return nil
 }
 
+func deleteAllRecordsInHostedZoneId(hostedZoneId, hostedZoneName string, conn *route53.Route53) error {
+	input := &route53.ListResourceRecordSetsInput{
+		HostedZoneId: aws.String(hostedZoneId),
+	}
+
+	var lastDeleteErr, lastErrorFromWaiter error
+	var pageNum = 0
+	err := conn.ListResourceRecordSetsPages(input, func(page *route53.ListResourceRecordSetsOutput, isLastPage bool) bool {
+		sets := page.ResourceRecordSets
+		pageNum += 1
+
+		changes := make([]*route53.Change, 0)
+		// 100 items per page returned by default
+		for _, set := range sets {
+			if *set.Name == hostedZoneName+"." && (*set.Type == "NS" || *set.Type == "SOA") {
+				// Zone NS & SOA records cannot be deleted
+				continue
+			}
+			changes = append(changes, &route53.Change{
+				Action:            aws.String("DELETE"),
+				ResourceRecordSet: set,
+			})
+		}
+		log.Printf("[DEBUG] Deleting %d records (page %d) from %s",
+			len(changes), pageNum, hostedZoneId)
+
+		req := &route53.ChangeResourceRecordSetsInput{
+			HostedZoneId: aws.String(hostedZoneId),
+			ChangeBatch: &route53.ChangeBatch{
+				Comment: aws.String("Deleted by Terraform"),
+				Changes: changes,
+			},
+		}
+
+		var resp interface{}
+		resp, lastDeleteErr = deleteRoute53RecordSet(conn, req)
+		if out, ok := resp.(*route53.ChangeResourceRecordSetsOutput); ok {
+			log.Printf("[DEBUG] Waiting for change batch to become INSYNC: %#v", out)
+			lastErrorFromWaiter = waitForRoute53RecordSetToSync(conn, cleanChangeID(*out.ChangeInfo.Id))
+		} else {
+			log.Printf("[DEBUG] Unable to wait for change batch because of an error: %s", lastDeleteErr)
+		}
+
+		return !isLastPage
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Failed listing/deleting record sets: %s\nLast error from deletion: %s\nLast error from waiter: %s",
+			err, lastDeleteErr, lastErrorFromWaiter)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 func resourceAwsGoRoute53Wait(r53 *route53.Route53, ref *route53.GetChangeInput) (result interface{}, state string, err error) {
 
 	status, err := r53.GetChange(ref)
diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_route53_zone_test.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_route53_zone_test.go
index bea1d9320..6679ea72d 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_route53_zone_test.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_route53_zone_test.go
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@ package aws
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"log"
 	"sort"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/acctest"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/resource"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/schema"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
@@ -86,6 +88,39 @@ func TestAccAWSRoute53Zone_basic(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestAccAWSRoute53Zone_forceDestroy(t *testing.T) {
+	var zone route53.GetHostedZoneOutput
+
+	// record the initialized providers so that we can use them to
+	// check for the instances in each region
+	var providers []*schema.Provider
+	providerFactories := map[string]terraform.ResourceProviderFactory{
+		"aws": func() (terraform.ResourceProvider, error) {
+			p := Provider()
+			providers = append(providers, p.(*schema.Provider))
+			return p, nil
+		},
+	}
+
+	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
+		PreCheck:          func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
+		IDRefreshName:     "aws_route53_zone.destroyable",
+		ProviderFactories: providerFactories,
+		CheckDestroy:      testAccCheckRoute53ZoneDestroyWithProviders(&providers),
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			resource.TestStep{
+				Config: testAccRoute53ZoneConfig_forceDestroy,
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					testAccCheckRoute53ZoneExistsWithProviders("aws_route53_zone.destroyable", &zone, &providers),
+					// Add >100 records to verify pagination works ok
+					testAccCreateRandomRoute53RecordsInZoneIdWithProviders(&providers, &zone, 100),
+					testAccCreateRandomRoute53RecordsInZoneIdWithProviders(&providers, &zone, 5),
+				),
+			},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func TestAccAWSRoute53Zone_updateComment(t *testing.T) {
 	var zone route53.GetHostedZoneOutput
 	var td route53.ResourceTagSet
@@ -204,6 +239,59 @@ func testAccCheckRoute53ZoneDestroyWithProvider(s *terraform.State, provider *sc
 	return nil
 }
 
+func testAccCreateRandomRoute53RecordsInZoneIdWithProviders(providers *[]*schema.Provider,
+	zone *route53.GetHostedZoneOutput, recordsCount int) resource.TestCheckFunc {
+	return func(s *terraform.State) error {
+		for _, provider := range *providers {
+			if provider.Meta() == nil {
+				continue
+			}
+			if err := testAccCreateRandomRoute53RecordsInZoneId(provider, zone, recordsCount); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
+func testAccCreateRandomRoute53RecordsInZoneId(provider *schema.Provider, zone *route53.GetHostedZoneOutput, recordsCount int) error {
+	conn := provider.Meta().(*AWSClient).r53conn
+
+	var changes []*route53.Change
+	if recordsCount > 100 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Route53 API only allows 100 record sets in a single batch")
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < recordsCount; i++ {
+		changes = append(changes, &route53.Change{
+			Action: aws.String("UPSERT"),
+			ResourceRecordSet: &route53.ResourceRecordSet{
+				Name: aws.String(fmt.Sprintf("%d-tf-acc-random.%s", acctest.RandInt(), *zone.HostedZone.Name)),
+				Type: aws.String("CNAME"),
+				ResourceRecords: []*route53.ResourceRecord{
+					&route53.ResourceRecord{Value: aws.String(fmt.Sprintf("random.%s", *zone.HostedZone.Name))},
+				},
+				TTL: aws.Int64(int64(30)),
+			},
+		})
+	}
+
+	req := &route53.ChangeResourceRecordSetsInput{
+		HostedZoneId: zone.HostedZone.Id,
+		ChangeBatch: &route53.ChangeBatch{
+			Comment: aws.String("Generated by Terraform"),
+			Changes: changes,
+		},
+	}
+	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Change set: %s\n", *req)
+	resp, err := changeRoute53RecordSet(conn, req)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	changeInfo := resp.(*route53.ChangeResourceRecordSetsOutput).ChangeInfo
+	err = waitForRoute53RecordSetToSync(conn, cleanChangeID(*changeInfo.Id))
+	return err
+}
+
 func testAccCheckRoute53ZoneExists(n string, zone *route53.GetHostedZoneOutput) resource.TestCheckFunc {
 	return func(s *terraform.State) error {
 		return testAccCheckRoute53ZoneExistsWithProvider(s, n, zone, testAccProvider)
@@ -324,6 +412,13 @@ resource "aws_route53_zone" "main" {
 }
 `
 
+const testAccRoute53ZoneConfig_forceDestroy = `
+resource "aws_route53_zone" "destroyable" {
+	name = "terraform.io"
+	force_destroy = true
+}
+`
+
 const testAccRoute53ZoneConfigUpdateComment = `
 resource "aws_route53_zone" "main" {
 	name = "hashicorp.com."
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/route53_zone.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/route53_zone.html.markdown
index 061946a9c..105449796 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/route53_zone.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/route53_zone.html.markdown
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 * `vpc_region` - (Optional) The VPC's region. Defaults to the region of the AWS provider.
 * `delegation_set_id` - (Optional) The ID of the reusable delgation set whose NS records you want to assign to the hosted zone.
   Conflicts w/ `vpc_id` as delegation sets can only be used for public zones.
+* `force_destroy` - (Optional) Whether to destroy all records (possibly managed outside of Terraform)
+  in the zone when destroying the zone.
 
 ## Attributes Reference