diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_db_instance.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_db_instance.go
index 576c2e286..d20d53379 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_db_instance.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_db_instance.go
@@ -943,7 +943,7 @@ func resourceAwsDbInstanceUpdate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error
 		req.DBPortNumber = aws.Int64(int64(d.Get("port").(int)))
 		requestUpdate = true
 	}
-	if d.HasChange("db_subnet_group_name") {
+	if d.HasChange("db_subnet_group_name") && !d.IsNewResource() {
 		d.SetPartial("db_subnet_group_name")
 		req.DBSubnetGroupName = aws.String(d.Get("db_subnet_group_name").(string))
 		requestUpdate = true