diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 4a1434a2061f..a1de4f7e2a2f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -5,14 +5,14 @@ CHANGELOG
 Next Release (TBD)
 ==================
 
-* feature:Page Size: Add a ``--page-size`` option, that 
+* feature:Page Size: Add a ``--page-size`` option, that
   controls page size when perfoming an operation that
   uses pagination.
   (`issue 889 <https://github.com/aws/aws-cli/pull/889>`__)
 * bugfix:``aws s3``: Added support for ignoring and warning
   about files that do not exist, user does not have read
   permissions, or are special files (i.e. sockets, FIFOs,
-  character special devices, and block special devices) 
+  character special devices, and block special devices)
   (`issue 881 <https://github.com/aws/aws-cli/pull/881>`__)
 * feature:Parameter Shorthand: Added support for
   ``structure(list-scalar, scalar)`` parameter shorthand.
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ Next Release (TBD)
 * bugfix:``aws s3``: Fix bug when unknown options were
   passed to ``aws s3`` commands
   (`issue 886 <https://github.com/aws/aws-cli/pull/886>`__)
+* bugfix:Endpoint URL: Provide a better error message when
+  an invalid ``--endpoint-url`` is provided
+  (`issue 899 <https://github.com/aws/aws-cli/issues/899>`__)
 
 
 1.4.2
diff --git a/awscli/compat.py b/awscli/compat.py
index a664d8ea7891..5951a75e4aa2 100644
--- a/awscli/compat.py
+++ b/awscli/compat.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 if six.PY3:
     import locale
+    import urllib.parse as urlparse
 
     def get_stdout_text_writer():
         return sys.stdout
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ def compat_open(filename, mode='r', encoding=None):
     import codecs
     import locale
     import io
+    import urlparse
 
     def get_stdout_text_writer():
         # In python3, all the sys.stdout/sys.stderr streams are in text
diff --git a/awscli/customizations/globalargs.py b/awscli/customizations/globalargs.py
index fc01f066c0e0..0acd0b80a659 100644
--- a/awscli/customizations/globalargs.py
+++ b/awscli/customizations/globalargs.py
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 
 import jmespath
 
+from awscli.compat import urlparse
+
 
 def register_parse_global_args(cli):
     cli.register('top-level-args-parsed', resolve_types)
@@ -26,6 +28,7 @@ def resolve_types(parsed_args, **kwargs):
     # that plugins can also hook into this process.
     _resolve_arg(parsed_args, 'query')
     _resolve_arg(parsed_args, 'verify_ssl')
+    _resolve_arg(parsed_args, 'endpoint_url')
 
 
 def _resolve_arg(parsed_args, name):
@@ -51,6 +54,17 @@ def _resolve_verify_ssl(value):
     return verify
 
 
+def _resolve_endpoint_url(value):
+    parsed = urlparse.urlparse(value)
+    # Our http library requires you specify an endpoint url
+    # that contains a scheme, so we'll verify that up front.
+    if not parsed.scheme:
+        raise ValueError('Bad value for --endpoint-url "%s": scheme is '
+                         'missing.  Must be of the form '
+                         'http://<hostname>/ or https://<hostname>/' % value)
+    return value
+
+
 def no_sign_request(parsed_args, session, **kwargs):
     if not parsed_args.sign_request:
         # In order to make signing disabled for all requests
diff --git a/tests/unit/customizations/test_globalargs.py b/tests/unit/customizations/test_globalargs.py
index 8b4c6fd6c9d9..f31bafc174e9 100644
--- a/tests/unit/customizations/test_globalargs.py
+++ b/tests/unit/customizations/test_globalargs.py
@@ -82,3 +82,15 @@ def test_disable_signing(self):
         service.signature_version = 'v4'
         globalargs.disable_signing(service)
         service.signature_version = None
+
+    def test_invalid_endpoint_url(self):
+        # Invalid jmespath expression.
+        parsed_args = FakeParsedArgs(endpoint_url='missing-scheme.com')
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            globalargs.resolve_types(parsed_args)
+
+    def test_valid_endpoint_url(self):
+        parsed_args = FakeParsedArgs(endpoint_url='http://custom-endpoint.com')
+        globalargs.resolve_types(parsed_args)
+        self.assertEqual(parsed_args.endpoint_url,
+                         'http://custom-endpoint.com')