diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/825-fix-elb-wait.yml b/changelogs/fragments/825-fix-elb-wait.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..afc87a06c56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/825-fix-elb-wait.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+minor_changes:
+  - elb_instance - `wait` parameter is no longer ignored (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.aws/pull/826)
diff --git a/plugins/modules/elb_instance.py b/plugins/modules/elb_instance.py
index 6116207866b..51ec03d5702 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/elb_instance.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/elb_instance.py
@@ -144,8 +144,9 @@ def deregister(self, wait, timeout):
             # already OutOfService is being deregistered.
             self.changed = True
 
-        for lb in self.lbs:
-            self._await_elb_instance_state(lb, 'Deregistered', timeout)
+        if wait:
+            for lb in self.lbs:
+                self._await_elb_instance_state(lb, 'Deregistered', timeout)
 
     def register(self, wait, enable_availability_zone, timeout):
         """Register the instance for all ELBs and wait for the ELB
@@ -176,8 +177,9 @@ def register(self, wait, enable_availability_zone, timeout):
 
             self.changed = True
 
-        for lb in self.lbs:
-            self._await_elb_instance_state(lb, 'InService', timeout)
+        if wait:
+            for lb in self.lbs:
+                self._await_elb_instance_state(lb, 'InService', timeout)
 
     @AWSRetry.jittered_backoff()
     def _describe_elbs(self, **params):