diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_find_query.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_find_query.go
index b74af76f09a..718f9e0d253 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_find_query.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_find_query.go
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ type CustomMetricsCache struct {
 
 var customMetricsMetricsMap map[string]map[string]map[string]*CustomMetricsCache
 var customMetricsDimensionsMap map[string]map[string]map[string]*CustomMetricsCache
+var regionCache sync.Map
 
 func init() {
 	metricsMap = map[string][]string{
@@ -233,13 +234,20 @@ func parseMultiSelectValue(input string) []string {
 // Whenever this list is updated, frontend list should also be updated.
 // Please update the region list in public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/partials/config.html
 func (e *CloudWatchExecutor) handleGetRegions(ctx context.Context, parameters *simplejson.Json, queryContext *tsdb.TsdbQuery) ([]suggestData, error) {
+	dsInfo := e.getDsInfo("default")
+	profile := dsInfo.Profile
+	if cache, ok := regionCache.Load(profile); ok {
+		if cache2, ok2 := cache.([]suggestData); ok2 {
+			return cache2, nil
+		}
+	}
+
 	regions := []string{
 		"ap-northeast-1", "ap-northeast-2", "ap-northeast-3", "ap-south-1", "ap-southeast-1", "ap-southeast-2", "ca-central-1",
 		"eu-central-1", "eu-north-1", "eu-west-1", "eu-west-2", "eu-west-3", "me-south-1", "sa-east-1", "us-east-1", "us-east-2", "us-west-1", "us-west-2",
 		"cn-north-1", "cn-northwest-1", "us-gov-east-1", "us-gov-west-1", "us-isob-east-1", "us-iso-east-1",
 	}
-
-	err := e.ensureClientSession("us-east-1")
+	err := e.ensureClientSession("default")
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -269,6 +277,7 @@ func (e *CloudWatchExecutor) handleGetRegions(ctx context.Context, parameters *s
 	for _, region := range regions {
 		result = append(result, suggestData{Text: region, Value: region})
 	}
+	regionCache.Store(profile, result)
 
 	return result, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_find_query_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_find_query_test.go
index e3903e8027e..34c3379b4df 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_find_query_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_find_query_test.go
@@ -9,20 +9,26 @@ import (
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/ec2"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/ec2/ec2iface"
 	"github.com/bmizerany/assert"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/securejsondata"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/simplejson"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/models"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb"
 	. "github.com/smartystreets/goconvey/convey"
 )
 
 type mockedEc2 struct {
 	ec2iface.EC2API
-	Resp ec2.DescribeInstancesOutput
+	Resp        ec2.DescribeInstancesOutput
+	RespRegions ec2.DescribeRegionsOutput
 }
 
 func (m mockedEc2) DescribeInstancesPages(in *ec2.DescribeInstancesInput, fn func(*ec2.DescribeInstancesOutput, bool) bool) error {
 	fn(&m.Resp, true)
 	return nil
 }
+func (m mockedEc2) DescribeRegions(in *ec2.DescribeRegionsInput) (*ec2.DescribeRegionsOutput, error) {
+	return &m.RespRegions, nil
+}
 
 func TestCloudWatchMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 
@@ -82,6 +88,31 @@ func TestCloudWatchMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	})
 
+	Convey("When calling handleGetRegions", t, func() {
+		executor := &CloudWatchExecutor{
+			ec2Svc: mockedEc2{RespRegions: ec2.DescribeRegionsOutput{
+				Regions: []*ec2.Region{
+					{
+						RegionName: aws.String("ap-northeast-2"),
+					},
+				},
+			}},
+		}
+		jsonData := simplejson.New()
+		jsonData.Set("defaultRegion", "default")
+		executor.DataSource = &models.DataSource{
+			JsonData:       jsonData,
+			SecureJsonData: securejsondata.SecureJsonData{},
+		}
+
+		result, _ := executor.handleGetRegions(context.Background(), simplejson.New(), &tsdb.TsdbQuery{})
+
+		Convey("Should return regions", func() {
+			So(result[0].Text, ShouldEqual, "ap-northeast-1")
+			So(result[1].Text, ShouldEqual, "ap-northeast-2")
+		})
+	})
+
 	Convey("When calling handleGetEc2InstanceAttribute", t, func() {
 		executor := &CloudWatchExecutor{
 			ec2Svc: mockedEc2{Resp: ec2.DescribeInstancesOutput{