diff --git a/aws/resource_aws_db_event_subscription.go b/aws/resource_aws_db_event_subscription.go
index 1bad308ebdff..50385d58200f 100644
--- a/aws/resource_aws_db_event_subscription.go
+++ b/aws/resource_aws_db_event_subscription.go
@@ -155,6 +155,12 @@ func resourceAwsDbEventSubscriptionRead(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}
 
 	sub, err := resourceAwsDbEventSubscriptionRetrieve(d.Id(), conn)
 
+	if isAWSErr(err, rds.ErrCodeSubscriptionNotFoundFault, "") {
+		log.Printf("[WARN] RDS Event Subscription (%s) not found - removing from state", d.Id())
+		d.SetId("")
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error retrieving RDS Event Subscription (%s): %s", d.Id(), err)
 	}
@@ -386,6 +392,10 @@ func resourceAwsDbEventSubscriptionRefreshFunc(name string, conn *rds.RDS) resou
 	return func() (interface{}, string, error) {
 		sub, err := resourceAwsDbEventSubscriptionRetrieve(name, conn)
 
+		if isAWSErr(err, rds.ErrCodeSubscriptionNotFoundFault, "") {
+			return nil, "", nil
+		}
+
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, "", err
 		}