diff --git a/builder/amazon/ebs/instance.go b/builder/amazon/common/instance.go
similarity index 89%
rename from builder/amazon/ebs/instance.go
rename to builder/amazon/common/instance.go
index d5a0a8006..53dab50ce 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/ebs/instance.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/common/instance.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package ebs
+package common
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 )
 
-func waitForState(ec2conn *ec2.EC2, originalInstance *ec2.Instance, pending []string, target string) (i *ec2.Instance, err error) {
+func WaitForState(ec2conn *ec2.EC2, originalInstance *ec2.Instance, pending []string, target string) (i *ec2.Instance, err error) {
 	log.Printf("Waiting for instance state to become: %s", target)
 
 	i = originalInstance
diff --git a/builder/amazon/ebs/step_run_source_instance.go b/builder/amazon/common/step_run_source_instance.go
similarity index 71%
rename from builder/amazon/ebs/step_run_source_instance.go
rename to builder/amazon/common/step_run_source_instance.go
index ada21de20..b7c7d4ab5 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/ebs/step_run_source_instance.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/common/step_run_source_instance.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package ebs
+package common
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
@@ -8,12 +8,15 @@ import (
 	"log"
 )
 
-type stepRunSourceInstance struct {
+type StepRunSourceInstance struct {
+	ExpectedRootDevice string
+	InstanceType       string
+	SourceAMI          string
+
 	instance *ec2.Instance
 }
 
-func (s *stepRunSourceInstance) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.StepAction {
-	config := state["config"].(config)
+func (s *StepRunSourceInstance) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.StepAction {
 	ec2conn := state["ec2"].(*ec2.EC2)
 	keyName := state["keyPair"].(string)
 	securityGroupId := state["securityGroupId"].(string)
@@ -21,8 +24,8 @@ func (s *stepRunSourceInstance) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.Step
 
 	runOpts := &ec2.RunInstances{
 		KeyName:        keyName,
-		ImageId:        config.SourceAmi,
-		InstanceType:   config.InstanceType,
+		ImageId:        s.SourceAMI,
+		InstanceType:   s.InstanceType,
 		MinCount:       0,
 		MaxCount:       0,
 		SecurityGroups: []ec2.SecurityGroup{ec2.SecurityGroup{Id: securityGroupId}},
@@ -30,16 +33,17 @@ func (s *stepRunSourceInstance) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.Step
 	}
 
 	ui.Say("Launching a source AWS instance...")
-	imageResp, err := ec2conn.Images([]string{config.SourceAmi}, ec2.NewFilter())
+	imageResp, err := ec2conn.Images([]string{s.SourceAMI}, ec2.NewFilter())
 	if err != nil {
 		state["error"] = fmt.Errorf("There was a problem with the source AMI: %s", err)
 		return multistep.ActionHalt
 	}
 
-	if imageResp.Images[0].RootDeviceType != "ebs" {
+	if s.ExpectedRootDevice != "" && imageResp.Images[0].RootDeviceType != s.ExpectedRootDevice {
 		state["error"] = fmt.Errorf(
-			"The provided source AMI is instance-store based. The\n" +
-				"amazon-ebs bundler can only work with EBS based AMIs.")
+			"The provided source AMI has an invalid root device type.\n"+
+				"Expected '%s', got '%s'.",
+			s.ExpectedRootDevice, imageResp.Images[0].RootDeviceType)
 		return multistep.ActionHalt
 	}
 
@@ -55,7 +59,7 @@ func (s *stepRunSourceInstance) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.Step
 	log.Printf("instance id: %s", s.instance.InstanceId)
 
 	ui.Say(fmt.Sprintf("Waiting for instance (%s) to become ready...", s.instance.InstanceId))
-	s.instance, err = waitForState(ec2conn, s.instance, []string{"pending"}, "running")
+	s.instance, err = WaitForState(ec2conn, s.instance, []string{"pending"}, "running")
 	if err != nil {
 		err := fmt.Errorf("Error waiting for instance (%s) to become ready: %s", s.instance.InstanceId, err)
 		state["error"] = err
@@ -68,7 +72,7 @@ func (s *stepRunSourceInstance) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.Step
 	return multistep.ActionContinue
 }
 
-func (s *stepRunSourceInstance) Cleanup(state map[string]interface{}) {
+func (s *StepRunSourceInstance) Cleanup(state map[string]interface{}) {
 	if s.instance == nil {
 		return
 	}
@@ -83,5 +87,5 @@ func (s *stepRunSourceInstance) Cleanup(state map[string]interface{}) {
 	}
 
 	pending := []string{"pending", "running", "shutting-down", "stopped", "stopping"}
-	waitForState(ec2conn, s.instance, pending, "terminated")
+	WaitForState(ec2conn, s.instance, pending, "terminated")
 }
diff --git a/builder/amazon/common/step_security_group.go b/builder/amazon/common/step_security_group.go
index e5743f202..dec317262 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/common/step_security_group.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/common/step_security_group.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 type StepSecurityGroup struct {
 	SecurityGroupId string
-	SSHPort int
+	SSHPort         int
 
 	createdGroupId string
 }
diff --git a/builder/amazon/ebs/builder.go b/builder/amazon/ebs/builder.go
index a0461efb6..03c23bf64 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/ebs/builder.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/ebs/builder.go
@@ -93,9 +93,13 @@ func (b *Builder) Run(ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook, cache packer.Cache) (packe
 		&awscommon.StepKeyPair{},
 		&awscommon.StepSecurityGroup{
 			SecurityGroupId: b.config.SecurityGroupId,
-			SSHPort: b.config.SSHPort,
+			SSHPort:         b.config.SSHPort,
+		},
+		&awscommon.StepRunSourceInstance{
+			ExpectedRootDevice: "ebs",
+			InstanceType:       b.config.InstanceType,
+			SourceAMI:          b.config.SourceAmi,
 		},
-		&stepRunSourceInstance{},
 		&common.StepConnectSSH{
 			SSHAddress:     sshAddress,
 			SSHConfig:      sshConfig,
diff --git a/builder/amazon/ebs/step_stop_instance.go b/builder/amazon/ebs/step_stop_instance.go
index ac81bda6b..5c608632f 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/ebs/step_stop_instance.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/ebs/step_stop_instance.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/goamz/ec2"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
+	awscommon "github.com/mitchellh/packer/builder/amazon/common"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
 )
 
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ func (s *stepStopInstance) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.StepActio
 
 	// Wait for the instance to actual stop
 	ui.Say("Waiting for the instance to stop...")
-	instance, err = waitForState(ec2conn, instance, []string{"running", "stopping"}, "stopped")
+	instance, err = awscommon.WaitForState(ec2conn, instance, []string{"running", "stopping"}, "stopped")
 	if err != nil {
 		err := fmt.Errorf("Error waiting for instance to stop: %s", err)
 		state["error"] = err
diff --git a/builder/amazon/instance/builder.go b/builder/amazon/instance/builder.go
index 66680903c..908a23a53 100644
--- a/builder/amazon/instance/builder.go
+++ b/builder/amazon/instance/builder.go
@@ -72,7 +72,12 @@ func (b *Builder) Run(ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook, cache packer.Cache) (packe
 		&awscommon.StepKeyPair{},
 		&awscommon.StepSecurityGroup{
 			SecurityGroupId: b.config.SecurityGroupId,
-			SSHPort: b.config.SSHPort,
+			SSHPort:         b.config.SSHPort,
+		},
+		&awscommon.StepRunSourceInstance{
+			ExpectedRootDevice: "instance-store",
+			InstanceType:       b.config.InstanceType,
+			SourceAMI:          b.config.SourceAmi,
 		},
 	}