diff --git a/aws/resource_aws_acm_certificate.go b/aws/resource_aws_acm_certificate.go
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/aws/resource_aws_acm_certificate.go
+++ b/aws/resource_aws_acm_certificate.go
@@ -292,6 +292,10 @@ func convertValidationOptions(certificate *acm.CertificateDetail) ([]map[string]
 	var emailValidationResult []string
 
 	if *certificate.Type == acm.CertificateTypeAmazonIssued {
+		if len(certificate.DomainValidationOptions) == 0 {
+			log.Printf("[DEBUG] No validation options need to retry.")
+			return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("No validation options need to retry.")
+		}
 		for _, o := range certificate.DomainValidationOptions {
 			if o.ResourceRecord != nil {
 				validationOption := map[string]interface{}{
Retry ACM certificate domain validation when the DomainValidationOptions array is completely empty.