diff --git a/helper/resource/wait.go b/helper/resource/wait.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..407ce5085
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helper/resource/wait.go
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+package resource
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// StateRefreshFunc is a function type used for StateChangeConf that is
+// responsible for refreshing the item being watched for a state change.
+//
+// It returns three results. `result` is any object that will be returned
+// as the final object after waiting for state change. This allows you to
+// return the final updated object, for example an EC2 instance after refreshing
+// it.
+//
+// `state` is the latest state of that object. And `err` is any error that
+// may have happened while refreshing the state.
+type StateRefreshFunc func() (result interface{}, state string, err error)
+
+// StateChangeConf is the configuration struct used for `WaitForState`.
+type StateChangeConf struct {
+	Pending []string         // States that are "allowed" and will continue trying
+	Refresh StateRefreshFunc // Refreshes the current state
+	Target  string           // Target state
+	Timeout time.Duration    // The amount of time to wait before timeout
+}
+
+type waitResult struct {
+	obj interface{}
+	err error
+}
+
+// WaitForState watches an object and waits for it to achieve the state
+// specified in the configuration using the specified Refresh() func,
+// waiting the number of seconds specified in the timeout configuration.
+func (conf *StateChangeConf) WaitForState() (i interface{}, err error) {
+	log.Printf("Waiting for state to become: %s", conf.Target)
+
+	notfoundTick := 0
+
+	result := make(chan waitResult, 1)
+
+	go func() {
+		for {
+			var currentState string
+			i, currentState, err = conf.Refresh()
+			if err != nil {
+				result <- waitResult{nil, err}
+				return
+			}
+
+			if i == nil {
+				// If we didn't find the resource, check if we have been
+				// not finding it for awhile, and if so, report an error.
+				notfoundTick += 1
+				if notfoundTick > 20 {
+					result <- waitResult{nil, errors.New("couldn't find resource")}
+					return
+				}
+			} else {
+				// Reset the counter for when a resource isn't found
+				notfoundTick = 0
+
+				if currentState == conf.Target {
+					result <- waitResult{i, nil}
+					return
+				}
+
+				found := false
+				for _, allowed := range conf.Pending {
+					if currentState == allowed {
+						found = true
+						break
+					}
+				}
+
+				if !found {
+					result <- waitResult{nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected state '%s', wanted target '%s'", currentState, conf.Target)}
+					return
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Wait between refreshes
+		time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
+	}()
+
+	select {
+	case waitResult := <-result:
+		err := waitResult.err
+		i = waitResult.obj
+		return i, err
+	case <-time.After(conf.Timeout):
+		err := fmt.Errorf("timeout while waiting for state to become '%s'", conf.Target)
+		i = nil
+		return i, err
+	}
+}
diff --git a/helper/resource/wait_test.go b/helper/resource/wait_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..964b1bb7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helper/resource/wait_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+package resource
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+type nullObject struct{}
+
+func FailedStateRefreshFunc() StateRefreshFunc {
+	return func() (interface{}, string, error) {
+		return nil, "", errors.New("failed")
+	}
+}
+
+func TimeoutStateRefreshFunc() StateRefreshFunc {
+	return func() (interface{}, string, error) {
+		time.Sleep(100 * time.Second)
+		return nil, "", errors.New("failed")
+	}
+}
+
+func SuccessfulStateRefreshFunc() StateRefreshFunc {
+	return func() (interface{}, string, error) {
+		return &nullObject{}, "running", nil
+	}
+}
+
+func TestWaitForState_timeout(t *testing.T) {
+	conf := &StateChangeConf{
+		Pending: []string{"pending", "incomplete"},
+		Target:  "running",
+		Refresh: TimeoutStateRefreshFunc(),
+		Timeout: 1 * time.Millisecond,
+	}
+
+	_, err := conf.WaitForState()
+
+	if err == nil && err.Error() != "timeout while waiting for state to become 'running'" {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+}
+
+func TestWaitForState_success(t *testing.T) {
+	conf := &StateChangeConf{
+		Pending: []string{"pending", "incomplete"},
+		Target:  "running",
+		Refresh: SuccessfulStateRefreshFunc(),
+		Timeout: 200 * time.Second,
+	}
+
+	_, err := conf.WaitForState()
+
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestWaitForState_failure(t *testing.T) {
+	conf := &StateChangeConf{
+		Pending: []string{"pending", "incomplete"},
+		Target:  "running",
+		Refresh: FailedStateRefreshFunc(),
+		Timeout: 200 * time.Second,
+	}
+
+	_, err := conf.WaitForState()
+
+	if err == nil && err.Error() != "failed" {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+}