diff --git a/bin/scotty.js b/bin/scotty.js
index 08988ac..2242d02 100755
--- a/bin/scotty.js
+++ b/bin/scotty.js
@@ -135,11 +135,11 @@ function cmd(console) {
   if (!AWS.config.credentials)
     return console.log(`Set AWS credentials first. Guide is available here: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-chap-getting-started.html`)
 
-  if (!AWS.config.region)
+  if (!args.region) {
     return getDefaultRegion()
       .catch(() => {
         if (args.force)
-          return saveDefaultRegion(args.region || 'us-east-1')
+          return 'us-east-1'
 
         return inquirer.prompt([{
           type: 'list',
@@ -152,8 +152,10 @@ function cmd(console) {
           .then(saveDefaultRegion)
       })
       .then(region => beamUp(args, region, console))
+  }
 
-  return beamUp(args, AWS.config.region, console)
+  return saveDefaultRegion(args.region)
+    .then(() => beamUp(args, args.region, console))
 }
 
 function beamUp (args, region, console) {
diff --git a/lib/scotty.js b/lib/scotty.js
index f3c142a..06b9673 100644
--- a/lib/scotty.js
+++ b/lib/scotty.js
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ function createOrUpdateBucket(bucket, region, update, force, quiet, logger) {
       if (err.code === 'BucketAlreadyExists')
         err.message += '\n\nTry running the command with a new bucket name: \n   scotty --bucket some-new-unique-name\n\nor change the name of your folder and re-run the same command.'
 
+      if (err.code === 'InvalidLocationConstraint')
+        err.message += '\n\nBucket already exists in a different region. Please change to: \n a) the correct region (using `-r region-name`) \n   OR \n b) a different bucket name (using `-b bucket-name`)'
       throw err
     })
 }