diff --git a/plugins/inputs/cloudwatch/README.md b/plugins/inputs/cloudwatch/README.md
index 28d2a295e..4430e48fd 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/cloudwatch/README.md
+++ b/plugins/inputs/cloudwatch/README.md
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ API endpoint. In the following order the plugin will attempt to authenticate.
 
   ## Maximum requests per second. Note that the global default AWS rate limit is
   ## 10 reqs/sec, so if you define multiple namespaces, these should add up to a
-  ## maximum of 10.
+  ## maximum of 10. Optional - default value is 10.
   ratelimit = 10
 
   ## Metrics to Pull (optional)
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go b/plugins/inputs/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go
index 3e5f71b90..d334f82d1 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ func (c *CloudWatch) SampleConfig() string {
 
   ## Maximum requests per second. Note that the global default AWS rate limit is
   ## 10 reqs/sec, so if you define multiple namespaces, these should add up to a
-  ## maximum of 10.
+  ## maximum of 10. Optional - default value is 10.
   ratelimit = 10
 
   ## Metrics to Pull (optional)
@@ -120,6 +120,8 @@ func (c *CloudWatch) Description() string {
 }
 
 func (c *CloudWatch) Gather(acc telegraf.Accumulator) error {
+	c.setDefaultValues()
+
 	if c.client == nil {
 		c.initializeCloudWatch()
 	}
@@ -197,6 +199,12 @@ func (c *CloudWatch) Gather(acc telegraf.Accumulator) error {
 	return errChan.Error()
 }
 
+func (c *CloudWatch) setDefaultValues() {
+	if c.RateLimit == 0 {
+		c.RateLimit = 10
+	}
+}
+
 func init() {
 	inputs.Add("cloudwatch", func() telegraf.Input {
 		ttl, _ := time.ParseDuration("1hr")