diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_cloudwatch_event_target.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_cloudwatch_event_target.go
index 727a17192..a64221f60 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_cloudwatch_event_target.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_cloudwatch_event_target.go
@@ -61,9 +61,6 @@ func resourceAwsCloudWatchEventTargetCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interfa
 	rule := d.Get("rule").(string)
 	targetId := d.Get("target_id").(string)
 
-	id := rule + "-" + targetId
-	d.SetId(id)
-
 	input := buildPutTargetInputStruct(d)
 	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Creating CloudWatch Event Target: %s", input)
 	out, err := conn.PutTargets(input)
@@ -76,6 +73,9 @@ func resourceAwsCloudWatchEventTargetCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interfa
 			out.FailedEntries)
 	}
 
+	id := rule + "-" + targetId
+	d.SetId(id)
+
 	log.Printf("[INFO] CloudWatch Event Target %q created", d.Id())
 
 	return resourceAwsCloudWatchEventTargetRead(d, meta)