diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index ac7d716..178b360 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -26,11 +26,21 @@ func RetrieveSecret(variableName string) {
 	// If the region could not be found in an environment variable or a shared config file,
 	// create metaSession to fetch the ec2 instance region and pass to the regular Session.
 	if *sess.Config.Region == "" {
-		metaSession, _ := session.NewSession()
-		metaClient := ec2metadata.New(metaSession)
-		region, _ := metaClient.Region()
+		metaSession, err := session.NewSession()
+		if err != nil {
+			printAndExit(err)
+		}
 
-		sess.Config.Region = aws.String(region)
+		metaClient := ec2metadata.New(metaSession)
+		// If running on an EC2 instance, the metaClient will be available and we can set the region to match the instance
+		// If not on an EC2 instance, the region will remain blank and AWS returns a "MissingRegion: ..." error
+		if metaClient.Available() {
+			if region, err := metaClient.Region(); err == nil {
+				sess.Config.Region = aws.String(region)
+			} else {
+				printAndExit(err)
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Create a new instance of the service's client with a Session.