diff --git a/aws/resource_aws_emr_instance_fleet.go b/aws/resource_aws_emr_instance_fleet.go
index 117fd952c21f..0ed7c90d8f33 100644
--- a/aws/resource_aws_emr_instance_fleet.go
+++ b/aws/resource_aws_emr_instance_fleet.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/emr"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/aws-sdk-go-base/tfawserr"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform-plugin-sdk/v2/helper/resource"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform-plugin-sdk/v2/helper/schema"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform-plugin-sdk/v2/helper/validation"
@@ -356,6 +357,11 @@ func resourceAwsEMRInstanceFleetDelete(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{})
 	}
 
 	_, err := conn.ModifyInstanceFleet(modifyInstanceFleetInput)
+
+	if tfawserr.ErrMessageContains(err, emr.ErrCodeInvalidRequestException, "instance fleet may only be modified when the cluster is running or waiting") {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error deleting/modifying EMR Instance Fleet (%s): %w", d.Id(), err)
 	}
diff --git a/aws/resource_aws_emr_instance_fleet_test.go b/aws/resource_aws_emr_instance_fleet_test.go
index c192dbe0e464..3bb2345d3935 100644
--- a/aws/resource_aws_emr_instance_fleet_test.go
+++ b/aws/resource_aws_emr_instance_fleet_test.go
@@ -133,6 +133,8 @@ func TestAccAWSEMRInstanceFleet_disappears(t *testing.T) {
 	var fleet emr.InstanceFleet
 	rName := acctest.RandomWithPrefix("tf-acc-test")
 	resourceName := "aws_emr_instance_fleet.task"
+	emrClusterResourceName := "aws_emr_cluster.test"
+
 	resource.ParallelTest(t, resource.TestCase{
 		PreCheck:     func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
 		Providers:    testAccProviders,
@@ -140,8 +142,11 @@ func TestAccAWSEMRInstanceFleet_disappears(t *testing.T) {
 		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
 			{
 				Config: testAccAWSEmrInstanceFleetConfig(rName),
-				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(testAccCheckAWSEmrInstanceFleetExists(resourceName, &fleet),
-					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(resourceName, "instance_type_configs.#", "1"),
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					testAccCheckAWSEmrInstanceFleetExists(resourceName, &fleet),
+					// EMR Instance Fleet can only be scaled down and are not removed until the
+					// Cluster is removed. Verify EMR Cluster disappearance handling.
+					testAccCheckResourceDisappears(testAccProvider, resourceAwsEMRCluster(), emrClusterResourceName),
 				),
 				ExpectNonEmptyPlan: true,
 			},