diff --git a/resources/aws_ec2.go b/resources/aws_ec2.go
index 6dd9adf2..3990f229 100644
--- a/resources/aws_ec2.go
+++ b/resources/aws_ec2.go
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ const (
 	SnsPrefix = Ec2Prefix + "sns-"
 	// SnsTopicName is the name of the sns topic created by snsMakeTopic.
 	SnsTopicName = SnsPrefix + "events"
+	// SnsServerShutdownTimeout is the maximum number of seconds to wait for the http server to shutdown gracefully.
+	SnsServerShutdownTimeout = 30
 	// waitTimeout is the duration in seconds of the timeout context in CheckApply.
 	waitTimeout = 400
 )
@@ -212,6 +214,9 @@ func (obj *AwsEc2Res) Init() error {
 
 // Watch is the primary listener for this resource and it outputs events.
 func (obj *AwsEc2Res) Watch() error {
+	if obj.WatchListenAddr != "" {
+		return obj.snsWatch()
+	}
 	return obj.longpollWatch()
 }
 
@@ -486,6 +491,73 @@ func (obj *AwsEc2Res) longpollWatch() error {
 	}
 }
 
+// snsWatch uses amazon cloudwatch events and simple notification service to
+// detect ec2 instance state changes.
+func (obj *AwsEc2Res) snsWatch() error {
+	send := false
+	var exit *error
+	defer obj.wg.Wait()
+	defer close(obj.closeChan)
+	// set up the sns endpoint
+	snsServer := obj.snsServer()
+	// shutdown the sns endpoint when we're done
+	defer func() {
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.TODO(), SnsServerShutdownTimeout*time.Second)
+		defer cancel()
+		if err := snsServer.Shutdown(ctx); err != nil {
+			if err != context.Canceled {
+				log.Printf("%s: error stopping sns endpoint: %s", obj, err)
+				return
+			}
+			log.Printf("%s: sns server shutdown cancelled", obj)
+		}
+	}()
+	obj.wg.Add(1)
+	// start the endpoint
+	go func() {
+		defer obj.wg.Done()
+		defer close(obj.awsChan)
+		if err := snsServer.ListenAndServe(); err != nil {
+			// when we shut down
+			if err == http.ErrServerClosed {
+				log.Printf("%s: Stopped SNS Endpoint", obj)
+				return
+			}
+			// any other error
+			select {
+			case obj.awsChan <- &chanStruct{
+				err: errwrap.Wrapf(err, "sns server error"),
+			}:
+			case <-obj.closeChan:
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+	log.Printf("%s: Started SNS Endpoint", obj)
+	// process events
+	for {
+		select {
+		case event := <-obj.Events():
+			if exit, send = obj.ReadEvent(event); exit != nil {
+				return *exit
+			}
+		case msg, ok := <-obj.awsChan:
+			if !ok {
+				return *exit
+			}
+			if err := msg.err; err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			log.Printf("%s: State: %s", obj, msg.str)
+			obj.StateOK(false)
+			send = true
+		}
+		if send {
+			send = false
+			obj.Event()
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // CheckApply method for AwsEc2 resource.
 func (obj *AwsEc2Res) CheckApply(apply bool) (checkOK bool, err error) {
 	log.Printf("%s: CheckApply(%t)", obj, apply)