diff --git a/cloudify_aws/common/decorators.py b/cloudify_aws/common/decorators.py
index ab5c2872b..250f11016 100644
--- a/cloudify_aws/common/decorators.py
+++ b/cloudify_aws/common/decorators.py
@@ -338,12 +338,12 @@ def _aws_resource(function,
             resource_config = kwargs['resource_config']
     resource_id = utils.get_resource_id(node=ctx.node, instance=ctx.instance)
     # Check if using external
+    iface = kwargs.get('iface')
     if props.get('use_external_resource') and \
             'cloudify.nodes.aws.ec2.Image' in ctx.node.type_hierarchy and \
             operation_name == 'create':
         pass
-    iface = kwargs.get('iface')
-    if ctx.node.properties.get('use_external_resource', False):
+    elif ctx.node.properties.get('use_external_resource', False):
         ctx.logger.info('{t} ID# {i} is user-provided.'.format(
             t=resource_type, i=resource_id))
         if not kwargs.get('force_operation', False) and \
diff --git a/cloudify_aws/ec2/resources/image.py b/cloudify_aws/ec2/resources/image.py
index 778c5223a..6f279d2a4 100644
--- a/cloudify_aws/ec2/resources/image.py
+++ b/cloudify_aws/ec2/resources/image.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def __init__(self, ctx_node, resource_id=None, client=None, logger=None):
         self.type_name = RESOURCE_TYPE
         image_filters = ctx_node.properties["resource_config"].get(
                 "kwargs", {}).get("Filters")
-        self.describe_image_filters = None
+        self._describe_image_filters = None
         if resource_id:
             self.prepare_describe_image_filter({IMAGE_IDS: [resource_id]})
         elif image_filters:
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ def __init__(self, ctx_node, resource_id=None, client=None, logger=None):
     def properties(self):
         """Gets the properties of an external resource"""
         params = self.describe_image_filters
+        self.logger.info('Params: {}'.format(params))
         if not params:
             return
         try:
@@ -96,6 +97,10 @@ def delete(self, params=None):
         self.logger.debug('Deregistering ImageId %s' % params.get('ImageId'))
         self.client.deregister_image(**params)
 
+    @property
+    def describe_image_filters(self):
+        return self._describe_image_filters
+
     def prepare_describe_image_filter(self, params):
         dry_run = params.get(DRY_RUN, False)
         image_ids = params.get(IMAGE_IDS, [])
@@ -103,7 +108,7 @@ def prepare_describe_image_filter(self, params):
         executable_users = params.get(EXECUTABLE_USERS, [])
         filters = params.get(FILTERS, [])
         if any([dry_run, image_ids, owners, executable_users, filters]):
-            self.describe_image_filters = {
+            self._describe_image_filters = {
                 DRY_RUN: dry_run,
                 IMAGE_IDS: image_ids,
                 OWNERS: owners,