diff --git a/moto/elb/exceptions.py b/moto/elb/exceptions.py
index e2707b60a..33b3f20cc 100644
--- a/moto/elb/exceptions.py
+++ b/moto/elb/exceptions.py
@@ -27,3 +27,11 @@ class TooManyTagsError(ELBClientError):
         super(TooManyTagsError, self).__init__(
             "LoadBalancerNotFound",
             "The quota for the number of tags that can be assigned to a load balancer has been reached")
+
+
+class BadHealthCheckDefinition(ELBClientError):
+    def __init__(self):
+        super(BadHealthCheckDefinition, self).__init__(
+            "ValidationError",
+            "HealthCheck Target must begin with one of HTTP, TCP, HTTPS, SSL")
+
diff --git a/moto/elb/models.py b/moto/elb/models.py
index 2303e907c..8954f5e3c 100644
--- a/moto/elb/models.py
+++ b/moto/elb/models.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from boto.ec2.elb.attributes import (
 )
 from boto.ec2.elb.policies import Policies
 from moto.core import BaseBackend
-from .exceptions import LoadBalancerNotFoundError, TooManyTagsError
+from .exceptions import LoadBalancerNotFoundError, TooManyTagsError, BadHealthCheckDefinition
 
 
 class FakeHealthCheck(object):
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ class FakeHealthCheck(object):
         self.unhealthy_threshold = unhealthy_threshold
         self.interval = interval
         self.target = target
+        if not target.startswith(('HTTP', 'TCP', 'HTTPS', 'SSL')):
+            raise BadHealthCheckDefinition
 
 
 class FakeListener(object):