diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_dynamodb_table.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_dynamodb_table.go
index 0606cde2e..7c9fd4334 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_dynamodb_table.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_dynamodb_table.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/resource"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/schema"
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
@@ -660,6 +661,37 @@ func resourceAwsDynamoDbTableDelete(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) er
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
+	params := &dynamodb.DescribeTableInput{
+		TableName: aws.String(d.Id()),
+	}
+
+	err = resource.Retry(10*time.Minute, func() error {
+		t, err := dynamodbconn.DescribeTable(params)
+		if err != nil {
+			if awserr, ok := err.(awserr.Error); ok && awserr.Code() == "ResourceNotFoundException" {
+				return nil
+			}
+			// Didn't recognize the error, so shouldn't retry.
+			return resource.RetryError{Err: err}
+		}
+
+		if t != nil {
+			if t.Table.TableStatus != nil && strings.ToLower(*t.Table.TableStatus) == "deleting" {
+				log.Printf("[DEBUG] AWS Dynamo DB table (%s) is still deleting", d.Id())
+				return fmt.Errorf("still deleting")
+			}
+		}
+
+		// we should be not found or deleting, so error here
+		return resource.RetryError{Err: fmt.Errorf("[ERR] Error deleting Dynamo DB table, unexpected state: %s", t)}
+	})
+
+	// check error from retry
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_dynamodb_table_test.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_dynamodb_table_test.go
index 425cd204f..114837ce3 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_dynamodb_table_test.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_dynamodb_table_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package aws
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"log"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
@@ -11,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/terraform"
 )
 
-func TestAccAWSDynamoDbTable(t *testing.T) {
+func TestAccAWSDynamoDbTable_basic(t *testing.T) {
 	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
 		PreCheck:     func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
 		Providers:    testAccProviders,
@@ -101,21 +102,23 @@ func testAccCheckAWSDynamoDbTableDestroy(s *terraform.State) error {
 			continue
 		}
 
-		fmt.Printf("[DEBUG] Checking if DynamoDB table %s exists", rs.Primary.ID)
+		log.Printf("[DEBUG] Checking if DynamoDB table %s exists", rs.Primary.ID)
 		// Check if queue exists by checking for its attributes
 		params := &dynamodb.DescribeTableInput{
 			TableName: aws.String(rs.Primary.ID),
 		}
+
 		_, err := conn.DescribeTable(params)
 		if err == nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("DynamoDB table %s still exists. Failing!", rs.Primary.ID)
 		}
 
 		// Verify the error is what we want
-		_, ok := err.(awserr.Error)
-		if !ok {
-			return err
+		if dbErr, ok := err.(awserr.Error); ok && dbErr.Code() == "ResourceNotFoundException" {
+			return nil
 		}
+
+		return err
 	}
 
 	return nil