diff --git a/azurerm/response.go b/azurerm/response.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e3b01100b50b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/azurerm/response.go
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package azurerm
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+
+	"github.com/Azure/go-autorest/autorest"
+)
+
+func responseWasNotFound(resp autorest.Response) bool {
+	if r := resp.Response; r != nil {
+		if r.StatusCode == http.StatusNotFound {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/azurerm/response_test.go b/azurerm/response_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a884a53e0cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/azurerm/response_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+package azurerm
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/Azure/go-autorest/autorest"
+)
+
+func TestResponseNotFound_DroppedConnection(t *testing.T) {
+	resp := autorest.Response{}
+	if responseWasNotFound(resp) {
+		t.Fatalf("responseWasNotFound should return `false` for a dropped connection")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestResponseNotFound_StatusCodes(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := []struct {
+		statusCode int
+		expectedResult bool
+	}{
+		{ http.StatusOK, false, },
+		{ http.StatusInternalServerError, false },
+		{ http.StatusNotFound, true },
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range testCases {
+		resp := autorest.Response{
+			Response: &http.Response{
+				StatusCode: test.statusCode,
+			},
+		}
+		result := responseWasNotFound(resp)
+		if test.expectedResult != result {
+			t.Fatalf("Expected '%+v' for status code '%d' - got '%+v'",
+				test.expectedResult, test.statusCode, result)
+		}
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file