diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_security_group.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_security_group.go
index aa4d85b3de..c619e70885 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_security_group.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_security_group.go
@@ -148,13 +148,9 @@ func resourceAwsSecurityGroupCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) er
 
         securityGroupOpts := &ec2.CreateSecurityGroupInput{}
 
-        if v, ok := d.GetOk("vpc_id"); ok {
-                if len(d.Get("egress").(*schema.Set).List()) == 0 {
-                        return fmt.Errorf("Error creating Security Group: Security groups inside a VPC require an egress rule. See http://terraform.io/docs/providers/aws/r/security_group.html for more information.")
-                }
-
+        if v := d.Get("vpc_id"); v != nil {
                 securityGroupOpts.VPCID = aws.String(v.(string))
-	}
+        }
 
 	if v := d.Get("description"); v != nil {
 		securityGroupOpts.Description = aws.String(v.(string))
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/security_group.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/security_group.html.markdown
index f5ffb85855..7651549060 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/security_group.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/security_group.html.markdown
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 * `description` - (Required) The security group description.
 * `ingress` - (Optional) Can be specified multiple times for each
    ingress rule. Each ingress block supports fields documented below.
-* `egress` - (Required, VPC only) Can be specified multiple times for each
+* `egress` - (Optional, VPC only) Can be specified multiple times for each
       egress rule. Each egress block supports fields documented below.
 * `vpc_id` - (Optional) The VPC ID.
 * `tags` - (Optional) A mapping of tags to assign to the resource.