diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_route53_record.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_route53_record.go
index 6a3b3733d..ee3384258 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_route53_record.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_route53_record.go
@@ -455,6 +455,9 @@ func resourceAwsRoute53RecordBuildSet(d *schema.ResourceData, zoneName string) (
 	}
 
 	if v, ok := d.GetOk("failover"); ok {
+		if _, ok := d.GetOk("set_identifier"); !ok {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf(`provider.aws: aws_route53_record: %s: "set_identifier": required field is not set when "failover" is set`, d.Get("name").(string))
+		}
 		rec.Failover = aws.String(v.(string))
 	}