diff --git a/aws/resource_aws_ecr_repository.go b/aws/resource_aws_ecr_repository.go
index 1de9cff36f9..67efcc58de9 100644
--- a/aws/resource_aws_ecr_repository.go
+++ b/aws/resource_aws_ecr_repository.go
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ func resourceAwsEcrRepository() *schema.Resource {
 			State: schema.ImportStatePassthrough,
 		},
 
+		Timeouts: &schema.ResourceTimeout{
+			Read:   schema.DefaultTimeout(1 * time.Minute),
+			Delete: schema.DefaultTimeout(20 * time.Minute),
+		},
+
 		Schema: map[string]*schema.Schema{
 			"name": &schema.Schema{
 				Type:     schema.TypeString,
@@ -72,11 +77,25 @@ func resourceAwsEcrRepositoryRead(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) erro
 	conn := meta.(*AWSClient).ecrconn
 
 	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Reading repository %s", d.Id())
-	out, err := conn.DescribeRepositories(&ecr.DescribeRepositoriesInput{
+	var out *ecr.DescribeRepositoriesOutput
+	input := &ecr.DescribeRepositoriesInput{
 		RepositoryNames: []*string{aws.String(d.Id())},
+	}
+
+	err := resource.Retry(d.Timeout(schema.TimeoutRead), func() *resource.RetryError {
+		var err error
+		out, err = conn.DescribeRepositories(input)
+		if err != nil {
+			if d.IsNewResource() && isAWSErr(err, ecr.ErrCodeRepositoryNotFoundException, "") {
+				return resource.RetryableError(err)
+			}
+			return resource.NonRetryableError(err)
+		}
+		return nil
 	})
+
 	if err != nil {
-		if ecrerr, ok := err.(awserr.Error); ok && ecrerr.Code() == "RepositoryNotFoundException" {
+		if !d.IsNewResource() && isAWSErr(err, ecr.ErrCodeRepositoryNotFoundException, "") {
 			d.SetId("")
 			return nil
 		}
@@ -119,7 +138,7 @@ func resourceAwsEcrRepositoryDelete(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) er
 	}
 
 	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Waiting for ECR Repository %q to be deleted", d.Id())
-	err = resource.Retry(20*time.Minute, func() *resource.RetryError {
+	err = resource.Retry(d.Timeout(schema.TimeoutDelete), func() *resource.RetryError {
 		_, err := conn.DescribeRepositories(&ecr.DescribeRepositoriesInput{
 			RepositoryNames: []*string{aws.String(d.Id())},
 		})
diff --git a/website/docs/r/ecr_repository.html.markdown b/website/docs/r/ecr_repository.html.markdown
index eb90f5b6085..a64ba9ea9f6 100644
--- a/website/docs/r/ecr_repository.html.markdown
+++ b/website/docs/r/ecr_repository.html.markdown
@@ -37,6 +37,13 @@ In addition to all arguments above, the following attributes are exported:
 * `registry_id` - The registry ID where the repository was created.
 * `repository_url` - The URL of the repository (in the form `aws_account_id.dkr.ecr.region.amazonaws.com/repositoryName`
 
+## Timeouts
+
+`aws_ecr_repository` provides the following [Timeouts](/docs/configuration/resources.html#timeouts)
+configuration options:
+
+- `read` - (Default `1 minute`) How long to wait for a repository to be listed after creation.
+- `delete` - (Default `20 minutes`) How long to wait for a repository to be deleted.
 
 ## Import