diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/bin/cdk.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/bin/cdk.ts
index e73e37f8ff994..9aaaa73f05721 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/bin/cdk.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/bin/cdk.ts
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ async function initCommandLine() {
      */
     async function populateDefaultEnvironmentIfNeeded(context: any) {
         if (!(cxapi.DEFAULT_REGION_CONTEXT_KEY in context)) {
-            context[cxapi.DEFAULT_REGION_CONTEXT_KEY] = aws.defaultRegion();
+            context[cxapi.DEFAULT_REGION_CONTEXT_KEY] = await aws.defaultRegion();
             debug(`Setting "${cxapi.DEFAULT_REGION_CONTEXT_KEY}" context to`, context[cxapi.DEFAULT_REGION_CONTEXT_KEY]);
         }
 
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/util/sdk.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/util/sdk.ts
index cfcde34f1cd14..49e24cb84658a 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/util/sdk.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/util/sdk.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { Environment} from '@aws-cdk/cx-api';
 import AWS = require('aws-sdk');
+import fs = require('fs-extra');
 import os = require('os');
 import path = require('path');
 import { debug } from '../../logging';
@@ -22,13 +23,12 @@ export class SDK {
     private defaultAccountId?: string = undefined;
     private readonly userAgent: string;
     private readonly accountCache = new AccountAccessKeyCache();
-    private readonly defaultCredentialProvider: AWS.CredentialProviderChain;
+    private defaultCredentialProvider?: AWS.CredentialProviderChain;
 
     constructor(private readonly profile: string | undefined) {
         // Find the package.json from the main toolkit
         const pkg = (require.main as any).require('../package.json');
         this.userAgent = `${pkg.name}/${pkg.version}`;
-        this.defaultCredentialProvider = makeCLICompatibleCredentialProvider(profile);
     }
 
     public async cloudFormation(environment: Environment, mode: Mode): Promise<AWS.CloudFormation> {
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ export class SDK {
         });
     }
 
-    public defaultRegion(): string | undefined {
-        return getCLICompatibleDefaultRegion(this.profile);
+    public async defaultRegion(): Promise<string | undefined> {
+        return await getCLICompatibleDefaultRegion(this.profile);
     }
 
     public async defaultAccount(): Promise<string | undefined> {
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ export class SDK {
     private async lookupDefaultAccount() {
         try {
             debug('Resolving default credentials');
+            if (!this.defaultCredentialProvider) {
+                this.defaultCredentialProvider = await makeCLICompatibleCredentialProvider(this.profile);
+            }
             const creds = await this.defaultCredentialProvider.resolvePromise();
             const accessKeyId = creds.accessKeyId;
             if (!accessKeyId) {
@@ -147,7 +150,7 @@ export class SDK {
  * file location is not given (SDK expects explicit environment variable with name).
  * - AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE is also inspected for profile name (not just AWS_PROFILE).
  */
-function makeCLICompatibleCredentialProvider(profile: string | undefined) {
+async function makeCLICompatibleCredentialProvider(profile: string | undefined) {
     profile = profile || process.env.AWS_PROFILE || process.env.AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE || 'default';
 
     // Need to construct filename ourselves, without appropriate environment variables
@@ -157,7 +160,7 @@ function makeCLICompatibleCredentialProvider(profile: string | undefined) {
     return new AWS.CredentialProviderChain([
         () => new AWS.EnvironmentCredentials('AWS'),
         () => new AWS.EnvironmentCredentials('AMAZON'),
-        () => new AWS.SharedIniFileCredentials({ profile, filename }),
+        ...(await fs.pathExists(filename) ? [() => new AWS.SharedIniFileCredentials({ profile, filename })] : []),
         () => {
             // Calling private API
             if ((AWS.ECSCredentials.prototype as any).isConfiguredForEcsCredentials()) {
@@ -181,7 +184,7 @@ function makeCLICompatibleCredentialProvider(profile: string | undefined) {
  * - AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE and AWS_DEFAULT_REGION are also used as environment
  *   variables to be used to determine the region.
  */
-function getCLICompatibleDefaultRegion(profile: string | undefined): string | undefined {
+async function getCLICompatibleDefaultRegion(profile: string | undefined): Promise<string | undefined> {
     profile = profile || process.env.AWS_PROFILE || process.env.AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE || 'default';
 
     // Defaults inside constructor
@@ -195,9 +198,9 @@ function getCLICompatibleDefaultRegion(profile: string | undefined): string | un
 
     while (!region && toCheck.length > 0) {
         const configFile = new SharedIniFile(toCheck.shift());
-        const section = configFile.getProfile(profile);
+        const section = await configFile.getProfile(profile);
         region = section && section.region;
     }
 
     return region;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/util/sdk_ini_file.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/util/sdk_ini_file.ts
index fc21bac2b0e49..826a5a5ffe992 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/util/sdk_ini_file.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/util/sdk_ini_file.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  */
 
 import AWS = require('aws-sdk');
+import fs = require('fs-extra');
 import os = require('os');
 import path = require('path');
 
@@ -25,8 +26,8 @@ export class SharedIniFile {
     this.filename = options.filename || this.getDefaultFilepath();
   }
 
-  public getProfile(profile: string) {
-    this.ensureFileLoaded();
+  public async getProfile(profile: string) {
+    await this.ensureFileLoaded();
 
     const profileIndex = profile !== (AWS as any).util.defaultProfile && this.isConfig ?
       'profile ' + profile : profile;
@@ -42,11 +43,11 @@ export class SharedIniFile {
     );
   }
 
-  private ensureFileLoaded() {
+  private async ensureFileLoaded() {
     if (!this.parsedContents) {
-      this.parsedContents = (AWS as any).util.ini.parse(
-        (AWS as any).util.readFileSync(this.filename)
-      );
+      this.parsedContents = await fs.pathExists(this.filename)
+                          ? (AWS as any).util.ini.parse(await fs.readFile(this.filename))
+                          : {};
     }
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}