diff --git a/library/cloud/ec2_scaling_policy b/library/cloud/ec2_scaling_policy
index 4e66f46306..6efc1c1bd8 100755
--- a/library/cloud/ec2_scaling_policy
+++ b/library/cloud/ec2_scaling_policy
@@ -162,6 +162,8 @@ def main():
 
     try:
         connection = connect_to_aws(boto.ec2.autoscale, region, **aws_connect_params)
+        if not connection:
+            module.fail_json(msg="failed to connect to AWS for the given region: %s" % str(region))
     except boto.exception.NoAuthHandlerFound, e:
         module.fail_json(msg = str(e))