diff --git a/.changes/next-release/bugfix-Paginator.json b/.changes/next-release/bugfix-Paginator.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9b8b5622c321
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/next-release/bugfix-Paginator.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  "description": "Fixed a bug where specifying `--no-paginate` on an operation without a page size parameter raised an error. Fixes `#1993 <https://github.com/aws/aws-cli/issues/1993>`__.",
+  "category": "Paginator",
+  "type": "bugfix"
+}
diff --git a/awscli/customizations/paginate.py b/awscli/customizations/paginate.py
index 21d871022d77..6856ddbddfb1 100644
--- a/awscli/customizations/paginate.py
+++ b/awscli/customizations/paginate.py
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ def ensure_paging_params_not_set(parsed_args, shadowed_args):
     paging_params = ['starting_token', 'page_size', 'max_items']
     shadowed_params = [p.replace('-', '_') for p in shadowed_args.keys()]
     params_used = [p for p in paging_params if
-                   p not in shadowed_params and getattr(parsed_args, p)]
+                   p not in shadowed_params and getattr(parsed_args, p, False)]
 
     if len(params_used) > 0:
         converted_params = ', '.join(
diff --git a/tests/functional/cloudformation/test_describe_stacks.py b/tests/functional/cloudformation/test_describe_stacks.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3028ed22c62a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/functional/cloudformation/test_describe_stacks.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Copyright 2016 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"). You
+# may not use this file except in compliance with the License. A copy of
+# the License is located at
+#
+#     http://aws.amazon.com/apache2.0/
+#
+# or in the "license" file accompanying this file. This file is
+# distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF
+# ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
+# language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
+from awscli.testutils import BaseAWSCommandParamsTest
+
+
+class TestDescribeStacks(BaseAWSCommandParamsTest):
+
+    prefix = 'cloudformation describe-stacks'
+
+    def test_no_paginate(self):
+        cmdline = self.prefix + ' --no-paginate'
+        self.assert_params_for_cmd(cmdline)