diff --git a/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/configuration/SqsConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/configuration/SqsConfiguration.java
index 56c7ca7ab..a258c67f1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/configuration/SqsConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/configuration/SqsConfiguration.java
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ public class SqsConfiguration {
   @JsonProperty
   private String queueUrl;
 
+  @NotEmpty
+  @JsonProperty
+  private String region = "us-east-1";
+
   public String getAccessKey() {
     return accessKey;
   }
@@ -43,6 +47,10 @@ public class SqsConfiguration {
   public String getQueueUrl() {
     return queueUrl;
   }
+
+  public String getRegion() {
+    return region;
+  }
 }
 
    
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/sqs/DirectoryQueue.java b/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/sqs/DirectoryQueue.java
index 386ff41bd..bd05995df 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/sqs/DirectoryQueue.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/sqs/DirectoryQueue.java
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ public class DirectoryQueue {
     final AWSStaticCredentialsProvider credentialsProvider = new AWSStaticCredentialsProvider(credentials);
     
     this.queueUrl = sqsConfig.getQueueUrl();
-    this.sqs      = AmazonSQSClientBuilder.standard().withCredentials(credentialsProvider).build();
+    this.sqs      = AmazonSQSClientBuilder.standard().withRegion(sqsConfig.getRegion()).withCredentials(credentialsProvider).build();
   }
 
   public void addRegisteredUser(String user) {