diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_cloudwatch_event_target.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_cloudwatch_event_target.go
index 727a17192e59..031090c5bf28 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_cloudwatch_event_target.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_cloudwatch_event_target.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/schema"
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/awserr"
 	events "github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/cloudwatchevents"
 )
 
@@ -61,9 +62,6 @@ func resourceAwsCloudWatchEventTargetCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interfa
 	rule := d.Get("rule").(string)
 	targetId := d.Get("target_id").(string)
 
-	id := rule + "-" + targetId
-	d.SetId(id)
-
 	input := buildPutTargetInputStruct(d)
 	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Creating CloudWatch Event Target: %s", input)
 	out, err := conn.PutTargets(input)
@@ -76,6 +74,9 @@ func resourceAwsCloudWatchEventTargetCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interfa
 			out.FailedEntries)
 	}
 
+	id := rule + "-" + targetId
+	d.SetId(id)
+
 	log.Printf("[INFO] CloudWatch Event Target %q created", d.Id())
 
 	return resourceAwsCloudWatchEventTargetRead(d, meta)
@@ -94,6 +95,15 @@ func resourceAwsCloudWatchEventTargetRead(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface
 			d.SetId("")
 			return nil
 		}
+		if awsErr, ok := err.(awserr.Error); ok {
+			// This should never happen, but it's useful
+			// for recovering from https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/issues/5389
+			if awsErr.Code() == "ValidationException" {
+				log.Printf("[WARN] Removing CloudWatch Event Target %q because it never existed.", d.Id())
+				d.SetId("")
+				return nil
+			}
+		}
 		return err
 	}
 	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Found Event Target: %s", t)
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/cloudwatch_event_target.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/cloudwatch_event_target.html.markdown
index e7555da9b7b6..20a94b31e932 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/cloudwatch_event_target.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/cloudwatch_event_target.html.markdown
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ Provides a CloudWatch Event Target resource.
 ```
 resource "aws_cloudwatch_event_target" "yada" {
   target_id = "Yada"
-  rule = "${aws_cloudwatch_event_rule.console.arn}"
+  rule = "${aws_cloudwatch_event_rule.console.name}"
   arn = "${aws_kinesis_stream.test_stream.arn}"
 }