diff --git a/aws_ec2_assign_elastic_ip/__init__.py b/aws_ec2_assign_elastic_ip/__init__.py
index 3e46357..757422a 100644
--- a/aws_ec2_assign_elastic_ip/__init__.py
+++ b/aws_ec2_assign_elastic_ip/__init__.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import logging
 import logging.config
 import sys
+import time
 
 if sys.platform in ['win32', 'cygwin']:
     import ntpath as ospath
@@ -68,6 +69,9 @@ def main():
         logger.info('Would assign IP {0}'.format(address.public_ip))
     else:
         _assign_address(instance_id, address)
+        if args.verify:
+            if not _verify_associated(instance_id, address):
+                sys.exit(1)
 
 
 def _assign_address(instance_id, address):
@@ -102,6 +106,60 @@ def _assign_address(instance_id, address):
     logger.info('Successfully associated Elastic IP {0} with {1}'.format(
         address.public_ip, instance_id))
 
+def _verify_associated(instance_id, address, retries=10, retry_interval=0.1):
+    """
+    Check that address is actually associated with instance_id by querying
+    the EC2 API.
+
+    :type instance_id: str
+    :param instance_id: Instance ID
+    :type address: boto.ec2.address
+    :param address: Elastic IP address
+    :type retries: int
+    :param retries: Number of times to retry failures
+    :type retry_interval: float
+    :param retry_interval: Sleep interval between retries
+    :returns: bool -- True if EIP is actually associated
+    """
+
+    logger.debug('Verifying that {0} is associated with {1}'.format(
+        instance_id, address.public_ip))
+
+    actual = connection.get_all_addresses(addresses=[address.public_ip])[0]
+
+    if actual.instance_id == instance_id:
+        logger.info(
+            'Verified that {0} is really associated with {1} ({2}/{3})'.format(
+                actual.public_ip, instance_id, actual.network_interface_id,
+                actual.association_id))
+        return True
+
+    if actual.instance_id:
+        logger.error(('Somehow {0!r} is associated with {1!r},' +
+                     ' not expected instance {2!r}').format(address.public_ip,
+                                                            actual.instance_id,
+                                                            instance_id))
+        return False
+
+    if actual.association_id:
+        logger.warning(
+            'Elastic IP {0} is already associated with {1!r}'.format(
+                actual.public_ip, actual.network_interface_id))
+    else:
+        logger.info('Elastic IP {0} is not yet associated'.format(
+            address.public_ip))
+
+    if retries > 0:
+        logger.info('Retrying verification...')
+        time.sleep(retry_interval)
+        return _verify_associated(instance_id=instance_id, address=address,
+                                  retries=retries - 1,
+                                  retry_interval=retry_interval)
+
+    logger.error(
+        'Ran out of retries verifying association of {0!r} to {1!r}'.format(
+            address.public_ip, instance_id))
+    return False
 
 def _get_unassociated_address():
     """ Return the first unassociated EIP we can find
diff --git a/aws_ec2_assign_elastic_ip/command_line_options.py b/aws_ec2_assign_elastic_ip/command_line_options.py
index a5a16d5..b3a89d0 100644
--- a/aws_ec2_assign_elastic_ip/command_line_options.py
+++ b/aws_ec2_assign_elastic_ip/command_line_options.py
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@
     help=(
         'Turn on dry run mode. No address will be assigned,\n'
         'we will only print which we whould take'))
+PARSER.add_argument(
+    '--skip-verify',
+    help='Skip verification that the EIP was successfully associated',
+    action='store_false', dest='verify')
 PARSER.add_argument(
     '--valid-ips',
     help=(