diff --git a/plugins/inventory/ec2.ini b/plugins/inventory/ec2.ini
index 8a0c3ad45c8..bee990d51e4 100644
--- a/plugins/inventory/ec2.ini
+++ b/plugins/inventory/ec2.ini
@@ -42,6 +42,14 @@ route53 = False
 # 'route53_excluded_zones' as a comma-separated list.
 # route53_excluded_zones = samplezone1.com, samplezone2.com
 
+# By default, only EC2 instances in the 'running' state are returned. Set
+# 'all_instances' to True to return all instances regardless of state.
+all_instances = False
+
+# By default, only RDS instances in the 'available' state are returned.  Set
+# 'all_rds_instances' to True return all RDS instances regardless of state.
+all_rds_instances = False
+
 # API calls to EC2 are slow. For this reason, we cache the results of an API
 # call. Set this to the path you want cache files to be written to. Two files
 # will be written to this directory:
diff --git a/plugins/inventory/ec2.py b/plugins/inventory/ec2.py
index 84841d3f09a..7a7cc049503 100755
--- a/plugins/inventory/ec2.py
+++ b/plugins/inventory/ec2.py
@@ -222,6 +222,16 @@ class Ec2Inventory(object):
             self.route53_excluded_zones.extend(
                 config.get('ec2', 'route53_excluded_zones', '').split(','))
 
+        # Return all EC2/RDS instances
+        if config.has_option('ec2', 'all_instances'):
+            self.all_instances = config.getboolean('ec2', 'all_instances')
+        else:
+            self.all_instances = False
+        if config.has_option('ec2', 'all_rds_instances'):
+            self.all_rds_instances = config.getboolean('ec2', 'all_rds_instances')
+        else:
+            self.all_rds_instances = False
+
         # Cache related
         cache_dir = os.path.expanduser(config.get('ec2', 'cache_path'))
         if not os.path.exists(cache_dir):
@@ -326,8 +336,8 @@ class Ec2Inventory(object):
         ''' Adds an instance to the inventory and index, as long as it is
         addressable '''
 
-        # Only want running instances
-        if instance.state != 'running':
+        # Only want running instances unless all_instances is True
+        if not self.all_instances and instance.state != 'running':
             return
 
         # Select the best destination address
@@ -390,8 +400,8 @@ class Ec2Inventory(object):
         ''' Adds an RDS instance to the inventory and index, as long as it is
         addressable '''
 
-        # Only want available instances
-        if instance.status != 'available':
+        # Only want available instances unless all_rds_instances is True
+        if not self.all_rds_instances and instance.status != 'available':
             return
 
         # Select the best destination address