diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_db_instance.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_db_instance.go
index 4fe66a2b4..c2b2317f7 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_db_instance.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_db_instance.go
@@ -837,6 +837,7 @@ func resourceAwsDbInstanceUpdate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error
 	if d.HasChange("engine_version") {
 		d.SetPartial("engine_version")
 		req.EngineVersion = aws.String(d.Get("engine_version").(string))
+		req.AllowMajorVersionUpgrade = aws.Bool(d.Get("allow_major_version_upgrade").(bool))
 		requestUpdate = true
 	}
 	if d.HasChange("backup_window") {
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/db_instance.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/db_instance.html.markdown
index 66ed8c384..65de48188 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/db_instance.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/db_instance.html.markdown
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ phase because a modification has not yet taken place. You can use the
 `apply_immediately` flag to instruct the service to apply the change immediately
 (see documentation below).
 
+When upgrading the major version of an engine, `allow_major_version_upgrade` must be set to `true`
+
 ~> **Note:** using `apply_immediately` can result in a
 brief downtime as the server reboots. See the AWS Docs on [RDS Maintenance][2]
 for more information.