diff --git a/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/account.go b/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/account.go
index 87e6aa41e1..34fcdd943c 100644
--- a/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/account.go
+++ b/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/account.go
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 package ec2
 
 import (
+	"sort"
+
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/ec2"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 )
@@ -45,5 +47,6 @@ func (s *Service) getAvailableZones() ([]string, error) {
 		zones = append(zones, *zone.ZoneName)
 	}
 
+	sort.Strings(zones)
 	return zones, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/filters.go b/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/filters.go
index ab2056f294..5b52a5c4a1 100644
--- a/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/filters.go
+++ b/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/filters.go
@@ -88,6 +88,13 @@ func (s *Service) filterAvailable() *ec2.Filter {
 	}
 }
 
+func (s *Service) filterNATGatewayStates(states ...string) *ec2.Filter {
+	return &ec2.Filter{
+		Name:   aws.String("state"),
+		Values: aws.StringSlice(states),
+	}
+}
+
 func (s *Service) filterInstanceStates(states ...string) *ec2.Filter {
 	return &ec2.Filter{
 		Name:   aws.String("instance-state-name"),
diff --git a/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/natgateways.go b/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/natgateways.go
index 21ff1d5c6f..bc8e6dae78 100644
--- a/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/natgateways.go
+++ b/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/natgateways.go
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ func (s *Service) describeNatGatewaysBySubnet(vpcID string) (map[string]*ec2.Nat
 	describeNatGatewayInput := &ec2.DescribeNatGatewaysInput{
 		Filter: []*ec2.Filter{
 			s.filterVpc(vpcID),
-			s.filterAvailable(),
+			s.filterNATGatewayStates(ec2.NatGatewayStatePending, ec2.NatGatewayStateAvailable),
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -143,7 +143,6 @@ func (s *Service) createNatGateway(clusterName string, subnetID string) (*ec2.Na
 	}
 
 	glog.Infof("NAT gateway %q for subnet ID %q is now available", *out.NatGateway.NatGatewayId, subnetID)
-
 	return out.NatGateway, nil
 }
 
@@ -211,5 +210,5 @@ func (s *Service) getNatGatewayForSubnet(subnets v1alpha1.Subnets, sn *v1alpha1.
 		return gws[0], nil
 	}
 
-	return "", errors.Errorf("no nat gateways are available in availability zone %q for subnet %q", sn.AvailabilityZone, sn.ID)
+	return "", errors.Errorf("no nat gateways available in %q for private subnet %q, current state: %+v", sn.AvailabilityZone, sn.ID, azGateways)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/natgateways_test.go b/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/natgateways_test.go
index 5eff37bdf1..71cba4ff13 100644
--- a/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/natgateways_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/natgateways_test.go
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ func TestReconcileNatGateways(t *testing.T) {
 								},
 								{
 									Name:   aws.String("state"),
-									Values: []*string{aws.String("available")},
+									Values: []*string{aws.String("pending"), aws.String("available")},
 								},
 							},
 						}),
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ func TestReconcileNatGateways(t *testing.T) {
 								},
 								{
 									Name:   aws.String("state"),
-									Values: []*string{aws.String("available")},
+									Values: []*string{aws.String("pending"), aws.String("available")},
 								},
 							},
 						}),
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ func TestReconcileNatGateways(t *testing.T) {
 								},
 								{
 									Name:   aws.String("state"),
-									Values: []*string{aws.String("available")},
+									Values: []*string{aws.String("pending"), aws.String("available")},
 								},
 							},
 						}),
diff --git a/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/network.go b/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/network.go
index ed3e57b87c..021437576c 100644
--- a/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/network.go
+++ b/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/network.go
@@ -70,14 +70,17 @@ func (s *Service) DeleteNetwork(clusterName string, network *v1alpha1.Network) (
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// NAT Gateways.
 	if err := s.deleteNatGateways(clusterName, network.Subnets, &network.VPC); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// EIPs.
 	if err := s.releaseAddresses(clusterName); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// Internet Gateways.
 	if err := s.deleteInternetGateways(clusterName, network); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/routetables_test.go b/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/routetables_test.go
index 1dcc176e94..dfdd507ac4 100644
--- a/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/routetables_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cloud/aws/services/ec2/routetables_test.go
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ func TestReconcileRouteTables(t *testing.T) {
 					DescribeRouteTables(gomock.AssignableToTypeOf(&ec2.DescribeRouteTablesInput{})).
 					Return(&ec2.DescribeRouteTablesOutput{}, nil)
 			},
-			err: errors.New(`no nat gateways are available in availability zone "us-east-1a"`),
+			err: errors.New(`no nat gateways available in "us-east-1a"`),
 		},
 	}