diff --git a/moto/ec2/responses/subnets.py b/moto/ec2/responses/subnets.py
index f0cd6db33..a0798a615 100644
--- a/moto/ec2/responses/subnets.py
+++ b/moto/ec2/responses/subnets.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ CREATE_SUBNET_RESPONSE = """
     <vpcId>{{ subnet.vpc_id }}</vpcId>
     <cidrBlock>{{ subnet.cidr_block }}</cidrBlock>
     <availableIpAddressCount>251</availableIpAddressCount>
-    <availabilityZone>us-east-1a</availabilityZone>
+    <availabilityZone>{{ subnet.availability_zone }}</availabilityZone>
     <tagSet>
       {% for tag in subnet.get_tags() %}
         <item>
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ DESCRIBE_SUBNETS_RESPONSE = """
         <vpcId>{{ subnet.vpc_id }}</vpcId>
         <cidrBlock>{{ subnet.cidr_block }}</cidrBlock>
         <availableIpAddressCount>251</availableIpAddressCount>
-        <availabilityZone>us-east-1a</availabilityZone>
+        <availabilityZone>{{ subnet.availability_zone }}</availabilityZone>
         <tagSet>
           {% for tag in subnet.get_tags() %}
             <item>
diff --git a/tests/test_ec2/test_subnets.py b/tests/test_ec2/test_subnets.py
index e148eac61..6205a50f2 100644
--- a/tests/test_ec2/test_subnets.py
+++ b/tests/test_ec2/test_subnets.py
@@ -61,6 +61,14 @@ def test_subnet_tagging():
     subnet.tags["a key"].should.equal("some value")
 
 
+@mock_ec2
+def test_subnet_should_have_proper_availability_zone_set():
+    conn = boto.vpc.connect_to_region('us-west-1')
+    vpcA = conn.create_vpc("10.0.0.0/16")
+    subnetA = conn.create_subnet(vpcA.id, "10.0.0.0/24", availability_zone='us-west-1b')
+    subnetA.availability_zone.should.equal('us-west-1b')
+
+
 @mock_ec2
 def test_get_subnets_filtering():
     conn = boto.vpc.connect_to_region('us-west-1')