diff --git a/aws/resource_aws_cloudwatch_metric_alarm.go b/aws/resource_aws_cloudwatch_metric_alarm.go
index f15aa1b2e49..06b5e7a39fc 100644
--- a/aws/resource_aws_cloudwatch_metric_alarm.go
+++ b/aws/resource_aws_cloudwatch_metric_alarm.go
@@ -72,8 +72,11 @@ func resourceAwsCloudWatchMetricAlarm() *schema.Resource {
 			"alarm_actions": {
 				Type:     schema.TypeSet,
 				Optional: true,
-				Elem:     &schema.Schema{Type: schema.TypeString},
-				Set:      schema.HashString,
+				Elem: &schema.Schema{
+					Type:         schema.TypeString,
+					ValidateFunc: validateArn,
+				},
+				Set: schema.HashString,
 			},
 			"alarm_description": {
 				Type:     schema.TypeString,