diff --git a/aws/resource_aws_appautoscaling_policy.go b/aws/resource_aws_appautoscaling_policy.go
index 7e6e0492a52..2a797167676 100644
--- a/aws/resource_aws_appautoscaling_policy.go
+++ b/aws/resource_aws_appautoscaling_policy.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ func resourceAwsAppautoscalingPolicy() *schema.Resource {
 			"resource_id": {
 				Type:     schema.TypeString,
 				Required: true,
+				ForceNew: true,
 			},
 			"scalable_dimension": {
 				Type:     schema.TypeString,
@@ -368,17 +369,29 @@ func resourceAwsAppautoscalingPolicyDelete(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interfac
 	log.Printf("[DEBUG] Deleting Application AutoScaling Policy opts: %#v", params)
 	err = resource.Retry(2*time.Minute, func() *resource.RetryError {
 		_, err = conn.DeleteScalingPolicy(&params)
+
+		if isAWSErr(err, applicationautoscaling.ErrCodeFailedResourceAccessException, "") {
+			return resource.RetryableError(err)
+		}
+
+		if isAWSErr(err, applicationautoscaling.ErrCodeObjectNotFoundException, "") {
+			return nil
+		}
+
 		if err != nil {
-			if isAWSErr(err, applicationautoscaling.ErrCodeFailedResourceAccessException, "") {
-				return resource.RetryableError(err)
-			}
 			return resource.NonRetryableError(err)
 		}
 		return nil
 	})
+
+	if isResourceTimeoutError(err) {
+		_, err = conn.DeleteScalingPolicy(&params)
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("Failed to delete scaling policy: %s", err)
 	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/aws/resource_aws_appautoscaling_policy_test.go b/aws/resource_aws_appautoscaling_policy_test.go
index b4499a96ee7..c15ba00b475 100644
--- a/aws/resource_aws_appautoscaling_policy_test.go
+++ b/aws/resource_aws_appautoscaling_policy_test.go
@@ -43,6 +43,28 @@ func TestAccAWSAppautoScalingPolicy_basic(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestAccAWSAppautoScalingPolicy_disappears(t *testing.T) {
+	var policy applicationautoscaling.ScalingPolicy
+	resourceName := "aws_appautoscaling_policy.test"
+	rName := acctest.RandomWithPrefix("tf-acc-test")
+
+	resource.ParallelTest(t, resource.TestCase{
+		PreCheck:     func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
+		Providers:    testAccProviders,
+		CheckDestroy: testAccCheckAWSAppautoscalingPolicyDestroy,
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			{
+				Config: testAccAWSAppautoscalingPolicyConfig(rName),
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					testAccCheckAWSAppautoscalingPolicyExists(resourceName, &policy),
+					testAccCheckAWSAppautoscalingPolicyDisappears(&policy),
+				),
+				ExpectNonEmptyPlan: true,
+			},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func TestAccAWSAppautoScalingPolicy_scaleOutAndIn(t *testing.T) {
 	var policy applicationautoscaling.ScalingPolicy
 
@@ -212,6 +234,40 @@ func TestAccAWSAppautoScalingPolicy_multiplePoliciesSameResource(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+// Reference: https://github.com/terraform-providers/terraform-provider-aws/issues/7963
+func TestAccAWSAppautoScalingPolicy_ResourceId_ForceNew(t *testing.T) {
+	var policy applicationautoscaling.ScalingPolicy
+	appAutoscalingTargetResourceName := "aws_appautoscaling_target.test"
+	resourceName := "aws_appautoscaling_policy.test"
+	rName := acctest.RandomWithPrefix("tf-acc-test")
+
+	resource.ParallelTest(t, resource.TestCase{
+		PreCheck:     func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
+		Providers:    testAccProviders,
+		CheckDestroy: testAccCheckAWSAppautoscalingPolicyDestroy,
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			{
+				Config: testAccAWSAppautoscalingPolicyConfigResourceIdForceNew1(rName),
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					testAccCheckAWSAppautoscalingPolicyExists(resourceName, &policy),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttrPair(resourceName, "resource_id", appAutoscalingTargetResourceName, "resource_id"),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttrPair(resourceName, "scalable_dimension", appAutoscalingTargetResourceName, "scalable_dimension"),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttrPair(resourceName, "service_namespace", appAutoscalingTargetResourceName, "service_namespace"),
+				),
+			},
+			{
+				Config: testAccAWSAppautoscalingPolicyConfigResourceIdForceNew2(rName),
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					testAccCheckAWSAppautoscalingPolicyExists(resourceName, &policy),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttrPair(resourceName, "resource_id", appAutoscalingTargetResourceName, "resource_id"),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttrPair(resourceName, "scalable_dimension", appAutoscalingTargetResourceName, "scalable_dimension"),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttrPair(resourceName, "service_namespace", appAutoscalingTargetResourceName, "service_namespace"),
+				),
+			},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func testAccCheckAWSAppautoscalingPolicyExists(n string, policy *applicationautoscaling.ScalingPolicy) resource.TestCheckFunc {
 	return func(s *terraform.State) error {
 		rs, ok := s.RootModule().Resources[n]
@@ -221,8 +277,10 @@ func testAccCheckAWSAppautoscalingPolicyExists(n string, policy *applicationauto
 
 		conn := testAccProvider.Meta().(*AWSClient).appautoscalingconn
 		params := &applicationautoscaling.DescribeScalingPoliciesInput{
-			ServiceNamespace: aws.String(rs.Primary.Attributes["service_namespace"]),
-			PolicyNames:      []*string{aws.String(rs.Primary.ID)},
+			PolicyNames:       []*string{aws.String(rs.Primary.ID)},
+			ResourceId:        aws.String(rs.Primary.Attributes["resource_id"]),
+			ScalableDimension: aws.String(rs.Primary.Attributes["scalable_dimension"]),
+			ServiceNamespace:  aws.String(rs.Primary.Attributes["service_namespace"]),
 		}
 		resp, err := conn.DescribeScalingPolicies(params)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -232,6 +290,8 @@ func testAccCheckAWSAppautoscalingPolicyExists(n string, policy *applicationauto
 			return fmt.Errorf("ScalingPolicy %s not found", rs.Primary.ID)
 		}
 
+		*policy = *resp.ScalingPolicies[0]
+
 		return nil
 	}
 }
@@ -258,6 +318,23 @@ func testAccCheckAWSAppautoscalingPolicyDestroy(s *terraform.State) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func testAccCheckAWSAppautoscalingPolicyDisappears(policy *applicationautoscaling.ScalingPolicy) resource.TestCheckFunc {
+	return func(s *terraform.State) error {
+		conn := testAccProvider.Meta().(*AWSClient).appautoscalingconn
+
+		input := &applicationautoscaling.DeleteScalingPolicyInput{
+			PolicyName:        policy.PolicyName,
+			ResourceId:        policy.ResourceId,
+			ScalableDimension: policy.ScalableDimension,
+			ServiceNamespace:  policy.ServiceNamespace,
+		}
+
+		_, err := conn.DeleteScalingPolicy(input)
+
+		return err
+	}
+}
+
 func testAccAWSAppautoscalingPolicyConfig(rName string) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf(`
 resource "aws_ecs_cluster" "test" {
@@ -676,3 +753,142 @@ resource "aws_appautoscaling_policy" "foobar_in" {
 }
 `, randClusterName, randPolicyNamePrefix, randPolicyNamePrefix)
 }
+
+func testAccAWSAppautoscalingPolicyConfigResourceIdForceNewBase(rName string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf(`
+resource "aws_ecs_cluster" "test" {
+	name = %[1]q
+}
+
+resource "aws_ecs_task_definition" "test" {
+  family = %[1]q
+  container_definitions = <<EOF
+[
+  {
+    "name": "busybox",
+    "image": "busybox:latest",
+    "cpu": 10,
+    "memory": 128,
+    "essential": true
+  }
+]
+EOF
+}
+
+resource "aws_ecs_service" "test1" {
+  cluster                            = "${aws_ecs_cluster.test.id}"
+  deployment_maximum_percent         = 200
+  deployment_minimum_healthy_percent = 50
+  desired_count                      = 0
+  name                               = "%[1]s-1"
+  task_definition                    = "${aws_ecs_task_definition.test.arn}"
+}
+
+resource "aws_ecs_service" "test2" {
+  cluster                            = "${aws_ecs_cluster.test.id}"
+  deployment_maximum_percent         = 200
+  deployment_minimum_healthy_percent = 50
+  desired_count                      = 0
+  name                               = "%[1]s-2"
+  task_definition                    = "${aws_ecs_task_definition.test.arn}"
+}
+`, rName)
+}
+
+func testAccAWSAppautoscalingPolicyConfigResourceIdForceNew1(rName string) string {
+	return testAccAWSAppautoscalingPolicyConfigResourceIdForceNewBase(rName) + fmt.Sprintf(`
+resource "aws_appautoscaling_target" "test" {
+  max_capacity       = 4
+  min_capacity       = 0
+  resource_id        = "service/${aws_ecs_cluster.test.name}/${aws_ecs_service.test1.name}"
+  scalable_dimension = "ecs:service:DesiredCount"
+  service_namespace  = "ecs"
+}
+
+resource "aws_appautoscaling_policy" "test" {
+  # The usage of depends_on here is intentional as this used to be a documented example
+  depends_on = ["aws_appautoscaling_target.test"]
+
+  name               = %[1]q
+  resource_id        = "service/${aws_ecs_cluster.test.name}/${aws_ecs_service.test1.name}"
+  scalable_dimension = "ecs:service:DesiredCount"
+  service_namespace  = "ecs"
+
+  step_scaling_policy_configuration {
+    adjustment_type         = "ChangeInCapacity"
+    cooldown                = 60
+    metric_aggregation_type = "Average"
+
+    step_adjustment {
+      metric_interval_lower_bound = 0
+      scaling_adjustment          = 1
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+resource "aws_cloudwatch_metric_alarm" "test" {
+  alarm_actions       = ["${aws_appautoscaling_policy.test.arn}"]
+  alarm_name          = %[1]q
+  comparison_operator = "LessThanOrEqualToThreshold"
+  evaluation_periods  = "5"
+  metric_name         = "CPUReservation"
+  namespace           = "AWS/ECS"
+  period              = "60"
+  statistic           = "Average"
+  threshold           = "0"
+
+  dimensions = {
+    ClusterName = "${aws_ecs_cluster.test.name}"
+  }
+}
+`, rName)
+}
+
+func testAccAWSAppautoscalingPolicyConfigResourceIdForceNew2(rName string) string {
+	return testAccAWSAppautoscalingPolicyConfigResourceIdForceNewBase(rName) + fmt.Sprintf(`
+resource "aws_appautoscaling_target" "test" {
+  max_capacity       = 4
+  min_capacity       = 0
+  resource_id        = "service/${aws_ecs_cluster.test.name}/${aws_ecs_service.test2.name}"
+  scalable_dimension = "ecs:service:DesiredCount"
+  service_namespace  = "ecs"
+}
+
+resource "aws_appautoscaling_policy" "test" {
+  # The usage of depends_on here is intentional as this used to be a documented example
+  depends_on = ["aws_appautoscaling_target.test"]
+
+  name               = %[1]q
+  resource_id        = "service/${aws_ecs_cluster.test.name}/${aws_ecs_service.test2.name}"
+  scalable_dimension = "ecs:service:DesiredCount"
+  service_namespace  = "ecs"
+
+  step_scaling_policy_configuration {
+    adjustment_type         = "ChangeInCapacity"
+    cooldown                = 60
+    metric_aggregation_type = "Average"
+
+    step_adjustment {
+      metric_interval_lower_bound = 0
+      scaling_adjustment          = 1
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+resource "aws_cloudwatch_metric_alarm" "test" {
+  alarm_actions       = ["${aws_appautoscaling_policy.test.arn}"]
+  alarm_name          = %[1]q
+  comparison_operator = "LessThanOrEqualToThreshold"
+  evaluation_periods  = "5"
+  metric_name         = "CPUReservation"
+  namespace           = "AWS/ECS"
+  period              = "60"
+  statistic           = "Average"
+  threshold           = "0"
+
+  dimensions = {
+    ClusterName = "${aws_ecs_cluster.test.name}"
+  }
+}
+`, rName)
+}
diff --git a/website/docs/r/appautoscaling_policy.html.markdown b/website/docs/r/appautoscaling_policy.html.markdown
index 45dfcdcda0c..b827ff6ea89 100644
--- a/website/docs/r/appautoscaling_policy.html.markdown
+++ b/website/docs/r/appautoscaling_policy.html.markdown
@@ -56,9 +56,9 @@ resource "aws_appautoscaling_target" "ecs_target" {
 resource "aws_appautoscaling_policy" "ecs_policy" {
   name               = "scale-down"
   policy_type        = "StepScaling"
-  resource_id        = "service/clusterName/serviceName"
-  scalable_dimension = "ecs:service:DesiredCount"
-  service_namespace  = "ecs"
+  resource_id        = "${aws_appautoscaling_target.ecs_target.resource_id}"
+  scalable_dimension = "${aws_appautoscaling_target.ecs_target.scalable_dimension}"
+  service_namespace  = "${aws_appautoscaling_target.ecs_target.service_namespace}"
 
   step_scaling_policy_configuration {
     adjustment_type         = "ChangeInCapacity"
@@ -70,8 +70,6 @@ resource "aws_appautoscaling_policy" "ecs_policy" {
       scaling_adjustment          = -1
     }
   }
-
-  depends_on = ["aws_appautoscaling_target.ecs_target"]
 }
 ```