diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/ec2.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/ec2.py
index 417e1b9521b..0f08fead180 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/ec2.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/ec2.py
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ AWS_REGIONS = [
     'cn-north-1',
     'eu-central-1',
     'eu-west-1',
+    'eu-central-1',
     'sa-east-1',
     'us-east-1',
     'us-west-1',
@@ -165,6 +166,11 @@ def boto_fix_security_token_in_profile(conn, profile_name):
 
 def connect_to_aws(aws_module, region, **params):
     conn = aws_module.connect_to_region(region, **params)
+    if not conn:
+        if region not in [aws_module_region.name for aws_module_region in aws_module.regions()]:
+            raise StandardError("Region %s does not seem to be available for aws module %s. If the region definitely exists, you may need to upgrade boto" % (region, aws_module.__name__))
+        else:
+            raise StandardError("Unknown problem connecting to region %s for aws module %s." % (region, aws_module.__name__))
     if params.get('profile_name'):
         conn = boto_fix_security_token_in_profile(conn, params['profile_name'])
     return conn
@@ -180,13 +186,13 @@ def ec2_connect(module):
     if region:
         try:
             ec2 = connect_to_aws(boto.ec2, region, **boto_params)
-        except boto.exception.NoAuthHandlerFound, e:
+        except (boto.exception.NoAuthHandlerFound, StandardError), e:
             module.fail_json(msg=str(e))
     # Otherwise, no region so we fallback to the old connection method
     elif ec2_url:
         try:
             ec2 = boto.connect_ec2_endpoint(ec2_url, **boto_params)
-        except boto.exception.NoAuthHandlerFound, e:
+        except (boto.exception.NoAuthHandlerFound, StandardError), e:
             module.fail_json(msg=str(e))
     else:
         module.fail_json(msg="Either region or ec2_url must be specified")