diff --git a/packaging/dependencies/amazon-cloudwatch-agent.service b/packaging/dependencies/amazon-cloudwatch-agent.service
index 51d810bebe..298ecf3498 100644
--- a/packaging/dependencies/amazon-cloudwatch-agent.service
+++ b/packaging/dependencies/amazon-cloudwatch-agent.service
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 [Unit]
 Description=Amazon CloudWatch Agent
-After=network-online.target
+After=network.target
 
 [Service]
 Type=simple
diff --git a/translator/util/ec2util/ec2util.go b/translator/util/ec2util/ec2util.go
index 632f7e7c57..59fd279ca7 100644
--- a/translator/util/ec2util/ec2util.go
+++ b/translator/util/ec2util/ec2util.go
@@ -4,13 +4,14 @@
 package ec2util
 
 import (
-	"log"
-	"sync"
-
 	"github.com/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/translator/config"
 	"github.com/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/translator/context"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/ec2metadata"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/session"
+	"log"
+	"net"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
 )
 
 // this is a singleton struct
@@ -21,6 +22,8 @@ type ec2Util struct {
 	Hostname   string
 }
 
+const allowedRetries = 5
+
 var e *ec2Util
 var once sync.Once
 
@@ -37,39 +40,69 @@ func initEC2UtilSingleton() (newInstance *ec2Util) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	ses, e := session.NewSession()
-	if e != nil {
-		log.Println("E! [EC2] getting new session info: ", e)
+	// Need to account for the scenario where a user running the CloudWatch agent on-premises,
+	// and doesn't require connectivity with the EC2 instance metadata service, while still
+	// gracefully waiting for network access on EC2 instances.
+	networkUp := false
+	for retry := 0; !networkUp && retry < allowedRetries; retry++ {
+		ifs, err := net.Interfaces()
+
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Println("E! [EC2] An error occurred while fetching network interfaces: ", err)
+		}
+
+		for _, in := range ifs {
+			if (in.Flags&net.FlagUp) != 0 && (in.Flags&net.FlagLoopback) == 0 {
+				networkUp = true
+				break
+			}
+		}
+		if networkUp {
+			log.Println("D! [EC2] Found active network interface")
+			break
+		}
+
+		log.Println("W! [EC2] Sleep until network is up")
+		time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
+	}
+	if !networkUp {
+		log.Println("E! [EC2] No available network interface")
+	}
+
+	ses, err := session.NewSession()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Println("E! [EC2] getting new session info: ", err)
 		return
 	}
 	md := ec2metadata.New(ses)
+
 	if !md.Available() {
 		log.Println("E! ec2metadata is not available")
 		return
 	}
 
-	if info, e := md.GetMetadata("instance-id"); e == nil {
+	if info, err := md.GetMetadata("instance-id"); err == nil {
 		newInstance.InstanceID = info
 	} else {
-		log.Println("E! getting instance-id from EC2 metadata fail: ", e)
+		log.Println("E! getting instance-id from EC2 metadata fail: ", err)
 	}
 
-	if info, e := md.GetMetadata("hostname"); e == nil {
+	if info, err := md.GetMetadata("hostname"); err == nil {
 		newInstance.Hostname = info
 	} else {
-		log.Println("E! getting hostname from EC2 metadata fail: ", e)
+		log.Println("E! getting hostname from EC2 metadata fail: ", err)
 	}
 
-	if info, e := md.GetMetadata("local-ipv4"); e == nil {
+	if info, err := md.GetMetadata("local-ipv4"); err == nil {
 		newInstance.PrivateIP = info
 	} else {
-		log.Println("E! getting local-ipv4 from EC2 metadata fail: ", e)
+		log.Println("E! getting local-ipv4 from EC2 metadata fail: ", err)
 	}
 
-	if info, e := md.GetInstanceIdentityDocument(); e == nil {
+	if info, err := md.GetInstanceIdentityDocument(); err == nil {
 		newInstance.Region = info.Region
 	} else {
-		log.Println("E! getting region from EC2 metadata fail: ", e)
+		log.Println("E! getting region from EC2 metadata fail: ", err)
 	}
 
 	return