diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 66560bd13..424daec0a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ BUG FIXES:
   * providers/aws: Refreshing EIP from pre-0.2 state file won't error. [GH-258]
   * providers/aws: Creating EIP without an instance/network won't fail.
   * providers/aws: Refreshing EIP manually deleted works.
+  * providers/aws: Retry EIP delete to allow AWS eventual consistency to
+      detect it isn't attached. [GH-276]
   * providers/digitalocean: Handle situations when resource was destroyed
       manually. [GH-279]
   * providers/digitalocean: Fix a couple scenarios where the diff was
diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_eip.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_eip.go
index 71732d067..d7c9382b4 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_eip.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_eip.go
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/resource"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/schema"
 	//"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/goamz/ec2"
@@ -125,20 +127,14 @@ func resourceAwsEipUpdate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error {
 }
 
 func resourceAwsEipDelete(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error {
-	p := meta.(*ResourceProvider)
-	ec2conn := p.ec2conn
-
-	domain := resourceAwsEipDomain(d)
-
-	var err error
-	if domain == "vpc" {
-		log.Printf("[DEBUG] EIP release (destroy) address allocation: %v", d.Id())
-		_, err = ec2conn.ReleaseAddress(d.Id())
-		return err
+	stateConf := &resource.StateChangeConf{
+		Pending:    []string{"pending"},
+		Target:     "destroyed",
+		Refresh:    resourceEipDeleteRefreshFunc(d, meta),
+		Timeout:    3 * time.Minute,
+		MinTimeout: 1 * time.Second,
 	}
-
-	log.Printf("[DEBUG] EIP release (destroy) address: %v", d.Id())
-	_, err = ec2conn.ReleasePublicAddress(d.Id())
+	_, err := stateConf.WaitForState()
 	return err
 }
 
@@ -200,3 +196,38 @@ func resourceAwsEipDomain(d *schema.ResourceData) string {
 
 	return "standard"
 }
+
+func resourceEipDeleteRefreshFunc(
+	d *schema.ResourceData,
+	meta interface{}) resource.StateRefreshFunc {
+	p := meta.(*ResourceProvider)
+	ec2conn := p.ec2conn
+	domain := resourceAwsEipDomain(d)
+
+	return func() (interface{}, string, error) {
+		var err error
+		if domain == "vpc" {
+			log.Printf(
+				"[DEBUG] EIP release (destroy) address allocation: %v",
+				d.Id())
+			_, err = ec2conn.ReleaseAddress(d.Id())
+		} else {
+			log.Printf("[DEBUG] EIP release (destroy) address: %v", d.Id())
+			_, err = ec2conn.ReleasePublicAddress(d.Id())
+		}
+
+		if err == nil {
+			return d, "destroyed", nil
+		}
+
+		ec2err, ok := err.(*ec2.Error)
+		if !ok {
+			return d, "error", err
+		}
+		if ec2err.Code != "InvalidIPAddress.InUse" {
+			return d, "error", err
+		}
+
+		return d, "pending", nil
+	}
+}