diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/ec2.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/ec2.py
index cdc0a0c7ea3..a09442f2898 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/ec2.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/ec2.py
@@ -639,13 +639,18 @@ except ImportError:
 
 def find_running_instances_by_count_tag(module, ec2, vpc, count_tag, zone=None):
 
-    # get reservations for instances that match tag(s) and are running
-    reservations = get_reservations(module, ec2, vpc, tags=count_tag, state="running", zone=zone)
+    # get reservations for instances that match tag(s) and are in the desired state
+    state = module.params.get('state')
+    if state not in ['running', 'stopped']:
+        state = None
+    reservations = get_reservations(module, ec2, vpc, tags=count_tag, state=state, zone=zone)
 
     instances = []
     for res in reservations:
         if hasattr(res, 'instances'):
             for inst in res.instances:
+                if inst.state == 'terminated':
+                    continue
                 instances.append(inst)
 
     return reservations, instances