diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/ec2.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/ec2.py
index ac799772c2..2edfd9e5d8 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/ec2.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/ec2.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import os
 
 try:
     import boto3
+    import botocore
     HAS_BOTO3 = True
 except:
     HAS_BOTO3 = False
@@ -129,10 +130,14 @@ def get_aws_connection_info(module, boto3=False):
         elif 'EC2_REGION' in os.environ:
             region = os.environ['EC2_REGION']
         else:
-            # boto.config.get returns None if config not found
-            region = boto.config.get('Boto', 'aws_region')
-            if not region:
-                region = boto.config.get('Boto', 'ec2_region')
+            if not boto3:
+                # boto.config.get returns None if config not found
+                region = boto.config.get('Boto', 'aws_region')
+                if not region:
+                    region = boto.config.get('Boto', 'ec2_region')
+            elif boto3 and HAS_BOTO3:
+                # here we don't need to make an additional call, will default to 'us-east-1' if the below evaluates to None.
+                region = botocore.session.get_session().get_config_variable('region')
 
     if not security_token:
         if 'AWS_SECURITY_TOKEN' in os.environ: